School and parents who don't care

There's been a lot of hand-wringing over Great Neck students who allegedly paid a ringer to take their SATs for them -- not just over the incidents themselves, but also about what they mean. Much of it concerns the idea that the pressure to succeed, get great scores and get into an elite university has created an epidemic of overanxious parents, high schoolers with incipient migraines and, of course, a willingness to cheat.

But as national ills go, putting too much emphasis on education scores pretty low. Parents and students who worry about college admissions to the point that it warps their morals ought to obsess less, but the vast majority of available data suggest most parents, and students, need to be worrying quite a bit more.

The average high schooler watches four hours of television a day, and spends plenty more on social networking and video games. Approximately 75 percent of young adults can't qualify to serve in our armed forces because they are out of shape, have a criminal record, or lack the basic knowledge necessary. And about 80 percent of new college students are not ready for college and should take remedial courses, according to the testing company ACT.

The cheapest and most effective education initiative would be a commitment from parents and kids that success in school be their highest priority. That commitment is largely what separates successful students from unsuccessful ones.

One thing that could make such a focus easier is accepting that not everybody needs to go to an elite liberal arts college. We should create clearer tracks to skilled professions that don't limit the opportunities for kids who are average academically by putting them in classes they have no interest or talent in.

Unemployment is perilously high, yet employers can't find workers with the skills they need in areas like high-tech manufacturing and health care. Vocational training is an area, experts say, in which the United States has fallen far behind much of Europe and Asia. Efforts to let industries steer the curriculums of both two- and four-year schools are helping, and growing. Vocational and technical programs at high schools also help steer kids toward fields they like and have an aptitude for. But it all needs to be prioritized, destigmatized and tied together.

For those headed to Harvard, the path is clear early on. Great grades in hard courses, top extracurriculars and, of course, stellar test scores. The path toward a solid technical career is much less obvious.

More needs to be done to offer the career track as a defined and rigorous option. That means promoting the idea that such paths lead to lucrative and important professions, and are respectable choices. It also means giving students who want a technical education strong guidance and planning, from high school on. Improve these options, and get parents to push their kids steadily and hard toward them, or down the traditional college path if that's more appropriate, and we're going to fix a lot more ills than we would by worrying about the niche problem of overpressured students cheating on the SATs.