The Economist – Staff Writer
“RADCLIFFE SADDLER began working at IBM, where he analyses market trends, on July 13th. He applies his programming and technical skills to a digital platform that provides market research to his colleagues. It is a good job: he makes $50,000 a year, has a health-care package and a pension plan. Mr Saddler is 18 years old. He earned his high-school diploma last month. A few weeks before finishing school, he also received an associate degree in computer systems technology. Mr Saddler was a pupil at P-Tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High School), an unusual school in the Crown Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn which blends a public high-school education with community college courses and paid work experience. He, along with five other pupils, finished the six-year programme two years early. Three of the graduates are going on to four-year universities. The remaining other two will join Mr Saddler at IBM.”(more)