This seems like a collective action problem. With the vast majority of adolescents in high school, you look like a weirdo if you opt-out, and the ecosystem of alternatives & opportunities doesn't exist. I'm convinced of the wisdom in this post, but I'm not clear on what the path is to get to a world where at least some communities can really experience such a thing.
Seems like the smallest incremental thing is normalize hiring high school age kids who want to opt out of high school.
Austin is farthest along in this process. At least among the entrepreneurial elite, almost everyone knows someone whose child attends an alternative school of some kind. There is also a large, diverse homeschooling population, with both Christian and hippy variants well represented. The boundary between homeschooling and unschooling is gradually disappearing as more a la carte learning options spring up. Billionaire Joe Liemandt runs Alpha School, an alternative school where students spend most of the day doing projects based in downtown Austin with windows so that people walking by can see teens working on their projects. Jeff Sandefer, founded Acton Academies in Austin, where teens focus on entrepreneurial projects to a substantial extent. There are now hundreds of them around the world, with several in Austin. There are also many much older alternative schools in Austin, many rooted in Austin counterculture (e.g. more hippy). AltEd Austin is a consulting service to help parents navigate alternative education because there are so many here. And there is actually a trend here among the tech elite to create alternative microschools in their homes. I know of two other billionaires doing this. There are rumors that Elon may also create another alterantive school. So once it becomes prestigious and normalized, things will shift quickly, especially after ESAs are passed. Not in Boston and NY, but certainly there is a vibrant movement here in Austin.
Rob, I think what you said about seeming like a weirdo is a product of an older generation. I didn't know anyone who was homeschooled growing up, and even the exceptional cases I knew (one model, another actor) all still attended public high school. But I now know hundreds of parents who are opting for different opportunities.
As Michael mentions, there are opportunities in micro-schools. I'm creating my own education for my own children, which I'm going to be documenting on my new Substack starting next week. With a little motivation, we can create incredible opportunities for children and (I believe) bring much of the lost wisdom back into the next generation. In five years, I think many people will be asking Michael why this wasn't the norm 30 years ago.
Public school is costing all of humanity substantial blood and treasure. High frequency and high visibility student successes may be the only way to convince society (students and parents) to question their complacent insistence on status quo. Maybe a meta study of the % accepted or graduating from Ivy League schools from non-trad-ed backgrounds? Suicide or mental health rates for non-trad vs trad ed students? There is certainly data somewhere that would make the case to quantify the superior outcomes.
"What is in short supply are the subcultures of inspiring, motivated human beings. In voluntary communities, one typically finds peers and mentors. In coercive environments in which one has little agency and one’s attention is controlled in ways that are not desirable, we have designed institutions that are exceptionally effective at killing inspiration and motivation."
As I mentioned when we spoke, I took years to break free of those stifling microcultures of mediocrity. But every day I'm inspired to know that its possible to avoid that for my kids.
This seems like a collective action problem. With the vast majority of adolescents in high school, you look like a weirdo if you opt-out, and the ecosystem of alternatives & opportunities doesn't exist. I'm convinced of the wisdom in this post, but I'm not clear on what the path is to get to a world where at least some communities can really experience such a thing.
Seems like the smallest incremental thing is normalize hiring high school age kids who want to opt out of high school.
Austin is farthest along in this process. At least among the entrepreneurial elite, almost everyone knows someone whose child attends an alternative school of some kind. There is also a large, diverse homeschooling population, with both Christian and hippy variants well represented. The boundary between homeschooling and unschooling is gradually disappearing as more a la carte learning options spring up. Billionaire Joe Liemandt runs Alpha School, an alternative school where students spend most of the day doing projects based in downtown Austin with windows so that people walking by can see teens working on their projects. Jeff Sandefer, founded Acton Academies in Austin, where teens focus on entrepreneurial projects to a substantial extent. There are now hundreds of them around the world, with several in Austin. There are also many much older alternative schools in Austin, many rooted in Austin counterculture (e.g. more hippy). AltEd Austin is a consulting service to help parents navigate alternative education because there are so many here. And there is actually a trend here among the tech elite to create alternative microschools in their homes. I know of two other billionaires doing this. There are rumors that Elon may also create another alterantive school. So once it becomes prestigious and normalized, things will shift quickly, especially after ESAs are passed. Not in Boston and NY, but certainly there is a vibrant movement here in Austin.
Rob, I think what you said about seeming like a weirdo is a product of an older generation. I didn't know anyone who was homeschooled growing up, and even the exceptional cases I knew (one model, another actor) all still attended public high school. But I now know hundreds of parents who are opting for different opportunities.
As Michael mentions, there are opportunities in micro-schools. I'm creating my own education for my own children, which I'm going to be documenting on my new Substack starting next week. With a little motivation, we can create incredible opportunities for children and (I believe) bring much of the lost wisdom back into the next generation. In five years, I think many people will be asking Michael why this wasn't the norm 30 years ago.
Love to hear it. Will be looking out for your Substack. Thanks
Public school is costing all of humanity substantial blood and treasure. High frequency and high visibility student successes may be the only way to convince society (students and parents) to question their complacent insistence on status quo. Maybe a meta study of the % accepted or graduating from Ivy League schools from non-trad-ed backgrounds? Suicide or mental health rates for non-trad vs trad ed students? There is certainly data somewhere that would make the case to quantify the superior outcomes.
Unshackled, imagine the possibilities!
Great post Michael. I especially resonated with:
"What is in short supply are the subcultures of inspiring, motivated human beings. In voluntary communities, one typically finds peers and mentors. In coercive environments in which one has little agency and one’s attention is controlled in ways that are not desirable, we have designed institutions that are exceptionally effective at killing inspiration and motivation."
As I mentioned when we spoke, I took years to break free of those stifling microcultures of mediocrity. But every day I'm inspired to know that its possible to avoid that for my kids.