Or so reports the Associated Press. Nearly one in four high school graduates do not achieve the minimum score required on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battern (ASVAB) to enlist in any of the armed services. Moreover, three out of four of those between the ages of 17 and 24 are disqualified either because they are not high school graduates or because of a physical disqualification or criminal record.
Given the nation’s continued reliance on all volunteer armed forces, I find the second fact oddly reassuring. That the Army, in particular, can continue to maintain such standards despite its continued need for significant numbers of new accessions every year is frankly impressive.
I suppose supporters of public schools can take some comfort as well in the fact that three-quarters of our high school graduates, amazingly enough, can “answer basic math, science and reading questions.” (Sample ASVAB questions here and here.)
Way to go, America’s public schools!
That the Army, in particular, can continue to maintain such standards despite its continued need for significant numbers of new accessions every year is frankly impressive.
When the economy was going good and the war wasn’t, they didn’tReport
I know. I also recall the lengths to which the Army tried to spin the lowered standards as, well, not lower and the horselaugh this provoked from the other services, especially the Marines.Report
From the same cite:
Pentagon data shows that 75 percent of those aged 17 to 24 don’t even qualify to take the test because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record or didn’t graduate high school.
Which shows that
1. There’s more going on here than the schools.
2. It’s possible to land a job writing for the AP without having leaned that”graduate” does not take a direct object.Report
Apparently, The Atlantic will also hire such a person.
(I think the construction is fine.)Report
We can make allowances for words omitted to save space in headlines. The body correctly reads “who graduated from the University of California”.
It’s a silly point, and I brought it up at most half-seriously. Bu my kids, who’ve become pretty skilled writers by having high-school teachers who make them write constantly, take pride in getting that sort of thing right. I wish that had been installed in the failing 23%.Report
Sure, that’s it, they were saving headline space. That’s the ticket!
If we’re going to get all grammatically punctilious, neither is correct. Schools graduate their students just as they previously matriculated them, so it really should read “who was graduated from [and implicitly by] the University of California.”
I’ll stick by my original opinion. The construct “graduated college” is acceptable English even though “was graduated from” is the preferred form. (At my wife’s alma mater, by the way, the accepted phrase is “taking one’s degree,” thus avoiding the point entirely.)Report