The vast majority of Idaho students graduate from high school, but fewer than half continue on to college, Education Week announced Thursday in its annual Quality Counts report. Education Week, a nonprofit national newspaper on K-12 education, is considered the authoritative source on public education in the U.S. The shortfall in Idaho students continuing on to college has spurred state and education activists to launch initiatives to boost that number. The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation kicked off its public awareness campaign “Don’t Fail Idaho” about a year ago. “It came out of a sense that Idahoans weren’t necessarily aware of the educational crisis happening in Idaho,” spokeswoman Jennie Sue Weltner said/Julie Wootton, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.

Question: I simply don't understand this resistance to higher education in Idaho. From the time my kids were old enough to walk, they knew they were going to college. It was a given. They entered high school with the understanding that they needed to make superior grades to land college scholarships. They did. Can someone explain why college isn't important to Idaho kids?