I'm not saying return to the technology of 1890. Most people back then learned on the job. Most people today learn on the job ( very different skills though).

I'm not saying return to the technology of 1890. Most people back then learned on the job. Most people today learn on the job ( very different skills though). The only difference is that today people spend the years 16-22 drinking and playing video games, in kind of a holding period. We could eliminate it entirely and everyone would be better off. In 1890, a person may have left school at 16 and started working 60 hours a week in a dangerous hard labor job. In 2008, the person could leave school at 16 and get a job working 35 hours a week in customer service. Or anything else. It's not public schooling that made modern jobs so much better, it was the growth of technology. Since under this proposed system people would start work earlier and have to pay far less for school, there would be a lot more time and money to take off a year sabbatical to travel, save money for having kids, work fewer hours, etc.