Should high schools and two-year colleges team up for mutual benefit?

"As local and state education officials move forward with plans to mitigate subpar high school graduation rates and ameliorate the viability of state two-year colleges, the two issues need to be considered as a single problem with a mutual solution," writes the Helena Independent-Record's editorial board.

The two high schools in Montana's capital city only graduate about three-quarters of their students on time. Meanwhile, higher education officials are fretting about the way Montana lags behind other Western states in the number of students who attend state two-year colleges.

"So, let’s see: a school district underachieving in graduation rates and a two-year college system underperforming to attract more qualified students," the newspaper's board continued. "Wouldn’t it be great if the university effort to attract more students to two-year schools worked in conjunction with the school district effort to decrease dropouts?"