Issues and Options in Education

James Coleman's paper focuses on the complex process
by which young people enter the labor market and eventually
become full-time workers. He states that in a market
system there is an inherent difficulty in this transition
from a subsidized environment, the school, to an unsubsidized one, the job market. Professor Coleman's paper discusses some of the broad approaches that might be taken to
meet this problem. Among his suggestions for consideration
are work-study arrangements for students and the possible
use of entitlement vouchers to provide youths with more
latitude in their choices of education and training programs
Richard Freeman's paper discusses the difficult
question: "How serious is the youth labor market problem?"
before considering: "How might schooling help?" He points
out that unemployment rates diminish as youths mature,
and he cites a lack of information about the effects of
unemployment on youths. Professor Freeman identifies the
placement of school graduates as a potentially critical
link and suggests that an emphasis on placement and on
work-study arrangements might lead to lower unemployment
rates for youths.The discussion led to a consideration of the roles of
aspirations and mobility. Some unemployment accompanies
the process of adjusting aspirations to available opportunities. However, perhaps unemployment among teenagers could
be reduced somewhat without sacrificing the goals of freedom and widespread opportunity.