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"I'm bored."
"Me too."
"Why do we have to be in school?"
"Yeah, I would rather be..."

How often I have heard these things said by a number of students in my classroom over the years. It is not that I am a boring teacher as students have pointed out to me that my classes are the best they have because I engage them from bell to bell with work that is relevant and interesting. They enjoy coming to my class, but overall, school for them is just a ticket for them to have punched in order for them to get on with their lives. This leads me to the conclusion, with provisions, that students should not be forced to stay in school until they are 18.

There are simply some students for whom school does not matter. They do not want to learn in a formal environment. Instead, once they reach high school, they should be offered an alternative such as being able to complete an apprenticeship in the career of their choice. To satisfy those who believe students should be in a formalized school environment until 18, this could be done in conjunction with a vocational school. But rather than the students having to take formal classes in English, Science, Social Studies and Math, then their chosen profession, they would learn what is necessary in conjunction with their chosen profession. This could then be supplemented by their having to work on a long-term learning project that would follow them for the usual 4 years of high school. At the end of the 4 years, they would need to present the project to members of the vocational school as well as community leaders. If it is deemed to be of a high standard, then the student receives a diploma with a notation of the field in which it has been gained. If not, then the student must continue with their apprenticeship and work further on the project until it is deemed as passable.

For those students wishing to stay on a more academic track and head off to college, then they could elect a more traditional route and stay with the form of education that exists in our public and private K-12 schools.

For those who choose either track, however, there also needs to be a way for them to switch should they change their mind. This way there is a safety net for those who choose one direction and find it to be either too difficult or too easy for them to accomplish or simply if their interests change. I would advocate, however, that they only be allowed to change their option once so that students would not simply go from one track to the other on a whim.

Learn more about this author, Jay Snyder.
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