After years of being told that a college degree is indispensable for a successful future, students are now being told a different story (“Not Everyone Needs a College Degree,” The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24).  While a degree may be helpful, it is not altogether necessary. 

Young people need to realize that employers are seeking skills more than degrees. College is merely the most convenient place to learn how to learn.  It is not an absolute requirement. 

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Administrators at Yale sat on their hands as students ran wild on campus (“Protests Turn Violent at Yale,” The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 22).  It’s time students learn that protest has limitations. When college officials don’t take proper action, they are derelict in their duty.

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The Oklahoma Supreme Court will decide if a Catholic charter school, the first in the nation, can exist.  If a trio of past decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court are any guide, I believe they will pass muster. That’s because the high court has ruled that states cannot restrict religious private schools from receiving a benefit open to nonreligious schools.

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Every teacher at one time or another has had what appears to be a lazy student (“Lazy? Anxious? Overlooked? Teachers Sound Off on Unmotivated Students,” Education Week, Apr. 11).  Most often, the problem is that the curriculum is to blame. When students see no relation between their lives and their studies, they either act out or drop out. It’s time to question the relevancy of what students are learning.

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College enrollment is plummeting because of its cost, leaving more young people to consider apprenticeships (“The Divergent Roads to Post-Secondary Success,” Education Next, Spring 2024).  That’s a sign that they are getting real about their future. Earn-and-learn programs offer a way to avoid debt and become attractive to employers.

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What is more important: rigor or relevancy in the curriculum?  Algebra is at the center in answering the question. Unless students are going to major in STEM, it’s a useless subject.  Far more helpful is statistics, which students can use no matter what they decide to do after graduation.

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Any day now, Harvard and other elite schools will notify applicants if they are accepted (“The Lottery of Getting Into Harvard,” Time, Mar. 22).  Despite what they may think, sheer chance determines their fate.

These applicants are all so well qualified that admission officers have a hard time identifying which ones to admit. That’s because of the principle of the flat maximum. It means that a simple flip of the coin will produce a class of equally deserving students. I still don’t know why Harvard and its ilk don’t admit it.

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Student surveys are being touted as the best way to evaluate instruction (“Are Student Surveys the Right Tool for Evaluating Teacher Performance?” Education Next, Spring 2004). But a closer look reveals their limitations.

Students tend to give high grades to teachers who give them the grade they alone think they deserve.  As a result, teachers who are easy graders have an advantage over their colleagues.  On the other hand, teachers can teach their subject well, but teach students to hate the subject in the process.

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Parental choice has been a godsend for poor Black and Hispanic students that the present system has failed (“Writer Issues Farewell Plea For Equality In Education,” The New York Times, Mar. 16).  Throwing more money at underperforming schools will do little to solve the problem.

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Given the upsurge of anti-semitic incidents on certain college campuses, Jewish students in the New York City area are being counseled against applying for admission (“Jewish students in NYC urged not to apply to Cornell University after anti-Semitic incidents: ‘Not a safe place,’ “ New York Post, Mar. 17). There’s already enough for students to contend with. They don’t need to worry about their physical safety.

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