Forget Free College; Let’s Make Free High School Work As It Should

As more high-paying jobs require higher education, many support offering free college to ensure finances don’t hinder anyone from reaching their potential.

But everyone should not need a college degree to thrive. In fact, many are so academically uninclined that college drives them to unhealthy stress levels and severe depression.

That doesn’t mean we should expect them all to work in fast food. But a significant portion of the population should learn in grade school everything it needs for career success.

The fact this rarely happens suggests most high schools aren’t offering the education that taxpayers believe they’re paying for.

If non-academically-inclined high school graduates are not prepared for the workforce, as a society, we should ask why.

Why have free K-12 education if, to make a decent living, students have to learn in college as adults what they should have learned on the taxpayer’s dime as teenagers?

The age of adulthood is 18. Therefore, an 18-year-old — who simply wants to make a living — should be prepared to enter an adult job and make adult money.

In the U.S., the pressure to attend college is more cultural than practical. The GI Bill made it possible for…