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I just can't shake the queasy feeling I got when I read yesterday's New York Times piece portraying college as a bad risk for poor kids. In large part, I worry that a retreat from our focus on college signals a retreat from our commitment to equity. But there's something else at work, something I couldn't quite put my finger on yesterday.

Blogger Corey Bunje Bower helped me put a name to it. Some college critics seem to prize training over education.

Here's how Bower puts it:

College does not only exist to train students for future employment. Students might benefit from attending college in myriad ways regardless of whether or not it directly relates to their future career. Similarly, society may benefit in many ways other than a more skilled labor force if more people attend college.

In the college skeptics' defense, $100K or even $200K is an awful lot to shell out for that certain je ne sais quoi. Every family has to consider the return on its investment in higher ed. And we can surely question the wisdom of colleges that race to outspend each other on swanky rec centers and freshman suites while tuition skyrockets.

But we have to be careful not to hearken back to granddad's vocational ed. There's more to school than workforce preparation, but so much of the current policy debate focuses solely on marketable skills.

But as the market shifts, so does the need for skills. Young people are changing jobs almost as quickly as they change outfits, so technical schools--as vital as they are--may have a tough time preparing young people for long, erratic careers. That will require a broader set of skills.

And let's not forget that education should help people hold on to something--some core of identity and interest--that won't change amidst all the upheaval of our working lives. That's why the German word for education, Bildung, appeals to me. It means "formation." It implies wholeness, unity and solidity even as it evokes development and growth.

It can be hard to talk about such things in the current climate. Should we wax poetic about broad and indefinable skills when so many children have so little command of basic skills? Should we celebrate very non-vocational studies when so many students are leaving college saddled with debt and unable to find work?

These are tough questions, and policy makers have to attend to the most pressing needs. But we should never let our most pressing struggles cloud our long-term vision for schools.