Is Indiana Improving Its High Schools?

 I am not so sure after reading Consider this curmudgeon confused on latest diploma move by Niki Kelly. Here is what our General Assembly has done:

But diplomas have been specialized and complicated in recent decades. In some ways, the Indiana Department of Education’s move to streamline Indiana’s diploma system will alleviate some of that.

The state would move from four or five types of diplomas to two: Indiana GPS Diploma and GPS Diploma Plus.

State officials and stakeholders also want more kids taking more college classes and getting workplace credentials. It seems Indiana students are having trouble completing high school coursework proficiently and yet we are pushing them to do even more.

But the formula to earn a diploma would still be complex, involving words like pathways, work-based learning and apprenticeships. And slowly, education seems more about training workers than teaching students.

But I thought that was the purpose of Indiana's education system - turning out bodies willing to take a wage that barely gives them purchasing power. 

I had to agree with Ms. Kelly in the following, just as they gave rise to a question:

I also don’t know why, suddenly, young adults can’t seem to handle basic tasks. Or at least that’s what employers are saying. Going to school itself taught me about showing up on time, completing my work, communicating with others on projects and the consequences of a bad grade when I slacked off. All those things translate into the workforce.

But if they didn’t, that’s why we had part-time jobs. For me, it was dipping ice cream and ringing up gas sales at a convenience store or selling CDs and, gasp, vinyl records at a music store in the mall.

Why, suddenly, does that need to be part of my diploma?

Could it be the kids know they are being slotted for a life of dead-end jobs?

sch 5/5