Mr. Kennedy:
I saw your appearance on Meet the Press.
I have the answer to the question on how to fund a college education for a majority of young Americans.
My oldest son dropped out of High school at the end of his sophomore year. That summer he started at the local Junior college( Joliet Junior College, JJC).
The next year his brother (1 year younger) dropped out of High school in January of his sophomore year.
Several weeks later my daughter dropped out of 8th grade. My wife made sure that they were both ready to take the English entrance exam at JJC. My son passed the Math and English entrance exams and my daughter only the English exam. They both entered JJC that summer. My daughter took College Biology during the summer, a 6 week course, and received a “B” grade.
All of my children graduated from JJC. Because my daughter was so far ahead she decided to take three years instead of the normal two.
My daughter wants to be a professional trumpet player. She took one year off of school and applied and was accepted at The Curtis School of Music. After graduating from there she was accepted and will graduate this year from Yale University with a Masters in Music degree.
My point is that High Schools teach College courses. Math courses above Geometry, Biology , Chemistry and Physics, Accounting, History, Social Science and English are all College courses. If these courses were taught as college courses in HS, college credit would be given for them. Every young American who spent their time in High School would leave with a minimum of an Associate Degree.
What would the cost be? In our area the cost to educate a student in High School for one year starts at about $7,000. The cost to attend JJC with books for two semesters is about $3,000. The overcrowding of high schools could be eliminated by having students attend school all day long, just like college. They could even go all year long, just like college. They could take a course and fail it, without penalty just like college.
The smart students could finish early and attend college for the $7,000 that is paid now for their HS education, if they went to State Colleges.
Drawbacks?? Not every student is ready or has the parental support to accomplish the tasks ahead of them. This can be said now with the current system. In Illinois they would have to eliminate Gym from the curriculum. I also believe that you would receive much resistance from the teachers unions. As a Democrat are you willing to go against a major supporter?
This is my program in a nutshell.
If you wish to further discuss this with me feel free to contact me.
If you wish to have a face to face meeting, tell me when and where and I will be there. This is something that I believe will work and I will use vacation and gas money if needed to try and explain and promote this idea.
Thanks for your time,
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