In the past month, the New York Times has had several articles and blog posts about proposals to cut short high school. 

In some cases, the idea is to eliminate the last two years of high school for very smart kids, and to get them into community colleges faster.

Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program
next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a
diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college.

Students who pass but aspire to attend a selective college may continue
with college preparatory courses in their junior and senior years,
organizers of the new effort said. Students who fail the 10th-grade
tests, known as board exams, can try again at the end of their 11th and
12th grades. The tests would cover not only English and math but also
subjects like science and history.

In other cases, the goal is just to eliminate senior year, which is often a complete waste of time, after the kids learn of their admission to college. Instead of putting penalties on kids who slack off, due to senioritis, the proposal is just to cut out that year of school entirely.

Cynical Me worries about these plans. I suspect that the real goal of these proposal is to save money and won't benefit the kids. Most 15 years aren't mature enough for college and need the structure of a high school.

On the other hand, it would have benefits for the community college system, which is a good thing. It would also mean that smart kids would be appropriately challenged. If public moneys are diverted to community colleges, rather than high schools, it wouldn't bother me entirely.

It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.