College Material

I have to admit that I’m losing my patience with the “all students will go to college” debate. The main reason for this is because when I’m on a lot of campuses, the staff is allowed to think that it is actually a debate. It’s not a debate, it is a fact. A fact that must be mandated, supported and enforced by school leaders.

I understand that not every student wants to go to college, but as educators we must prepare every student to pursue some sort of post-secondary training or education. College, junior college, military service, and/or trade school must be in the future of every one of our students. Anything thing less consigns our students to the margins of our rapidly changing economy.

When I was an AP and Principal, it may have been possible that there were individuals on my staff that didn’t believe that all of my students were going to college, but they were smart enough to keep that thought hidden when I was around. My mantra was, “get them to school, get them to class and get them to college.”

Here is some ammunition to support you in your fight to prepare all of your students for college:

• We don’t get to choose who will go to college and who won’t… We just get to prepare everyone so they can have the option.
  
• Entry level blue collar job reading requirement are higher than the freshman year of college… So preparing students for college is the easier job.
  
• His parents don’t care if he goes to college… So he’s lucky he goes to our school and not somewhere else.

I’ve got more responses, so send me the negative comments you’ve had to face and I’ll send you a response.

To sum up, we can and must prepare all of our students for post-secondary training. If you, as a school leader, are not willing to commit to this, it will be your students that suffer.

Your turn…