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End Education

Every generation as it ages out thinks that the newer ones are on the path to decline. The quality of life and education is worse and people are on balance less bright than before. If that had been really true we would have worked ourself into extinction by now. Since we still around, its safe to the say that the degree and pace of decline might have been over-stated. But reading this article about what it will take students to graduate high school in New York, does make a person wonder, if this might not be the beginning of the end.

 One of my co-workers sends his three kids to a charter school that does not have have tests and provides no feedback on a the child's performance. They are required to bring their best selves to school and do the best they can while there. The outcomes don't matter and most certainly don't count. P is very pleased with the system because it makes for a low stress life for his kids who are all a few years away from college. 

P himself went to a very selective college and is well aware of what it takes to make the cut. He is adamant that he does not wish that life for his kids. I asked him what if they want a life like his (and theirs) which is great part can be attributed to where he went to school and the connections he made while there. Several of P's closest friends have national standing in their fields. More than once in his career, these friends helped him land a job he was less than qualified for. With such blessings in his life, P is able to give his kids a high quality of life and a chance to go to school where there is no need or expectation to perform.

 I very much doubt his kids are ready for the rough and tumble that awaits them in college and beyond. The protected life of chartered school will end along with the fully funded lifestyle where there are no performance expectations whatsoever, These kids go on three to four big vacations a year and countless small ones. The mundane business of life and school happens in the gaps between vacation. The New York proposal seems to be akin to P's parenting style delivered at scale and not requiring the parent to have the means P does to support the non-performing life of their kids. 

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