Early Decision?

More Bush inanity, except this time, it's from the one in Florida: "Fla. High School Seniors May Pick Majors" . . .

The Florida House passed a bill Thursday that would make Florida the first state to require high school students to declare a major, just as college students must do. [...]

Bush and others say that requiring high school students to declare a major and concentrate on a particular field could prepare them better for college and the working world and reduce the dropout rate by making school more interesting.

Show of hands: How many could have intelligently picked a "major" at the age of 16 or 17? Anyone? Bueller?

The "logic" behind this legislation is ridiculous on its face. Clearly these lawmakers have no experience with most European secondary school systems, where very early major selection produces students who have disturbingly little competence outside an extremely narrow range. Europeans intend their students to pick (or be placed in) a subject, then stick with it. The problem is that--ahem!--human beings don't work like that. Most of them need to be exposed to lots of different things before they know enough to choose.

A real solution here is obvious and long overdue: Allow high school students greater flexibility in course selection, and shrink the "core" that all students must take. That way, everybody's happy, and there's no bogus pigeonholing of kids in their mid-teens. The absence of early major selection is one of the few strengths of the American educational system, and it's no surprise that a Republican governor--and a Bush, no less--would try to destroy this advantage.