A column in today's People's Defender newspaper in Adams County authored by the superintendent of the local public school district notes sophomores who took the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) last week now face a turning point.

The students know they must pass all five sections of the OGT - reading, writing, science, math and social studies - in order to get a diploma in two years. Now that they've met that challenge - and assuming they passed - they must decide how to finish out their high school careers.

Some will take a college prep course of study and head off to a traditional university. Others will opt for a career/technical path and attend the local vocational school. Those students face some serious educational stigmas that are both unfair and unnecessary.

The stigmas include the incorrect assumption that anyone who attends a technical school does so because he or she can't "hack it" in the home high school. They also fear a technical education makes them ineligible for college later on. Then, there's the social stigma that they will be deprived of life-long friends if they go off to a new school.

All these things keep students from even considering a technical/career high school. The superintendent argues students and parents should at least visit the local career/technical school and see what it has to offer before making a firm decision.

Too many students who should be in career/technical education don't go there. And that's a problem that only more "education" will overcome, he said.