Sg,

Agreed that all kids should get a general education. After all, that SHOULD be the way to figure out where their strengths lie. I just think we should make high school more like a vocational school. That's kind of what Common Core is trying to do, but I think it falls well short of ideal, due to the lack of variety and focus on subjects that are the most difficult for most students to grasp.

I'm duly impressed with the way things have turned out for your daughters. You should be proud. You should also be glad they graduated in the 90s; college tuition has more than doubled since then, outpacing general inflation four-fold. It's facts like this that have some of us Gen-Xers wondering if our kids really will have an opportunity to become self-sufficient. The boys out there can fall back on the trades, but there's not much left for our daughters if they don't go to college. I think it's safe to say that my daughters and I will all be in debt up to our necks for a long time (If they go to college).