Why do they think that an after-school job is more important than school?

If you had a job as a teenager, chances are, you had a boss who couldn’t understand why you cared more about school than the job. Some kids do put their work above everything else in their life, either because they have to support their family now, or they know they’ll be entering the workforce full-time as soon as they graduate from high school, so they care less about their grades than someone who is college-bound. 

If you’re planning on going to college, it’s a no-brainer to put your schoolwork above your job every time. A college admissions person is not going to double-check with the assistant manager at the Culver’s in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to double-check if you were good at working the drive-thru. They are going to double-check with your high school that the grades you listed on your application are the ones you actually earned in class. No college is going to judge you negatively because you «only» worked at Sonic Drive-In for 3 months during the summer instead of working there for all four years of high school. They care much more about grades and involvement in extracurricular activities than moving up the ranks at a fast-food chain.