STEM seems to be the focus of many parents' desire for their children's educations due, in part, to the sponsorship of Bill Gates of educational programs including common core standards. Whatever it takes for the kids to be admitted to college is what most parents are willing to aim for, and with the new standards, it takes a lot more technical ability than before. What parents need to realize is that a college education is going to become ever more unattainable as the economy devolves into a less energetic state. People power is what is going to be more valued in the near future as the consequences of peak oil play out.
For that reason, we shouldn't fret over the dismally low scores of many minority groups in Maryland showing that 95% of them aren't ready for college when they should be. On the one hand, it does not serve the fight against discrimination for their cohorts to be left behind those of whites and Asians. On the other hand, many whites and Asians will be less prepared than these less brainy youth to take on the physical demands of the new-old world of work. Fewer and fewer of them will be able to enter or complete college due to costs. Many of those that do finish college will be no better off than their less educated peers due to their debt burdens.
I'm not saying we shouldn't keep pushing the tech envelope, and science offers hope of discovering keys to our continued occupation of the planet, but if you happen to fall short in intellectual or financial capacities, you can still look forward to having a role to play in the economy we are entering - just don't fall short in phys-ed.
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