By Matthew Long

The purpose of the public school system is to educate the young, and prepare them to live a productive life in society. Yet with the focus of education shifting to the core academic classes and preparation for standardized tests, the purpose of education has become hazy.
Academic classes are designed to prepare students to succeed in higher education — nominally in the college environment. They work to hone and perfect a limited, albeit important, skill-set, from writing and organizational skills in English, to calculation and logic skills in mathematics. However, they overlook other important aspects of learning.
If taken in conjunction with vocational and arts classes, the core subjects can help round out education. Classes like autoshop and culinary arts allow students to sample a variety of everyday experiences and acquire important skills that will be useful in college and later in life, and to learn real-world skills not taught in academic classes. They also provide students with the opportunity to sample many possible professions and areas of study outside of the academic pathways. Many college students would starve if not for meal plans, whereas students who take a basic culinary program in high school easily acquire the means to provide for themselves and others.
Music, sculpting, drama, and other art classes allow students to express themselves and foster a creative side not addressed through core classes. Granted, presentations in academic classes often attempt to embody creativity, but foreknowledge is expected. Teachers never take the time to articulate how to design a good poster or drawing, nor pause in their curriculum to teach rhythm or pitch. Music and art are both universal languages, yet even foreign languages are perceived as more important than the arts.
Core classes may prepare students for the rigorous coursework of post-secondary education, but beyond that, much of the material presented is specific to certain fields of study. Being able to take derivatives, understand the intricacies of cellular mitosis, or grasp the complexities of modern poetry may be necessary for a college diploma, but once learned, those skills are often forgotten. Outside of school, the knowledge is virtually useless.
Countless hours spent sitting at desks doing menial and repetitive problems emphasizing complex concepts amount to nothing for the majority of the population; students not looking to pursue a career in those specific fields will not need to recall that information until their children go through the system.
School is designed to provide younger generations with an education, yet it has slowly changed into a protracted process of college entrance; from kindergarten until high school, the curriculum emphasized is that which is important to post-secondary pursuits.
Core classes do offer a firm foundation for general education, but focusing wholly upon them deprives students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge base and acquire skills needed in the real world.