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Parent Category: Lower-Intermediate News Lessons

Category: Education Lessons

Written by Chris Cotter

Teenagers in a lot of countries graduate high school when they are sixteen. But in the US, children attend high school for four years. Four years of high school might not prepare students for college, though. Students in the US don't score as well as other students around the world on international standardized tests.

In New Hampshire, some education officials have suggested that students should be ready for college when they are sixteen. After tests in the tenth grade, students may graduate and go to a community or technical college. If they children want to study at a four-year university, they can stay in high school for two more years. During the extra two years, they will study more challenging, advanced material.

The suggestion was made because of the problems with America's education system. Forty years ago, the US had the best educated workforce in the world. It now ranks tenth in the world, and the problem is getting worse. More jobs are sent overseas, for example, where the workforce may be inexpensive and have more skills.

Opponents believe that low-income, less-educated families wouldn't send their children to universities for four years, though. These children would have fewer job opportunities in the future. Such a system will lead to more inequality between the haves and the have nots.