SK> Apparently, education in North Carolina isn't doing as badly as Matt
SK> might have us think!
SK> ->    In many states, two-year community colleges are counted on
SK> -> to produce skilled workers for local business (Bleakley, W.S.
SK> -> JOURNAL, 11/26).  While other states including Calif., S.C.,
SK> -> Texas and Florida support large community-college systems, N.C. is
SK> -> considered to be the model for how much a community college
SK> -> can do for job training and re-training, writes the paper.
    This is _not_ proof that North Carolina K-12 public schools are 
"working".  It is proof of the opposite.  The reason that this state's 
community colleges are so much in the retraining business is largely to teach 
recent HS grads what they should have learned in grades 8-12 (ever read the 
course offerings at any North Carolina community college?).  Community 
colleges here have class offerings that are heavy with remedial classes 
covering HS academic material.
SK> ->    The paper features the Guilford Technical Community College,
SK> -> located in Guilford County, halfway between Charlotte and
SK> -> Raleigh.  GTCC officials claim credit for the county's continued
SK> -> economic success, despite workforce cutbacks in its textile,
SK> -> furniture and tobacco industries.  
    GTCC made the local (Greensboro) paper with an article highlighting 
GTCC's role with respect to the failings of the local K-12 schools.  Many 
kids had been dropping out of the Guilford County public high schools to take 
the adult high school degree program at GTCC, but many of them were so 
ill-behaved that GTCC quit allowing HS-age kids into the program.
SK> -> basics," writes the paper.  Several years ago, GTCC commissioned a
SK> -> study to determine whether they were producing graduates with the
SK> -> requisite skills for local business.  Business leaders
SK> -> informed GTCC that too many graduates were deficient in basic
SK> -> math and English skills and the college was not teaching courses
SK> -> future workers would need.
    Doesn't this say it all as to the inadequacies of the K-12 schools the 
GTCC students were coming from?
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