Don't agree with a lot of his points, but it is a pretty good read. Our Education system is a failure. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/19/Dobbs.June20/index.html Guess we can throw even more money at incompetent system and get different results. Time for a new strategy in my opinion. Give the control of Education back to the parents and local decision makers.
If you keep raising standards, then kids who can't meet them will drop out. It is a bad thing when we have kids who will be sixteen in middle school. What is the alternative? Lower standards? Social promotion? The kids who are doing poorly, though FREQUENTLY (not always) have parents who are completely disconnected from them...what can educators do? Take them away from their parents and give them to someone else? Not my place. I agree something has to change. We are trying hard on our end, are all of the families trying on theirs?
All very real issues that stand a better chance of being handled locally. For those that do not care to be in school they should not be in a regular school. Perhaps a vocational school or apprenticeship to learn a trade. Understand and a major problem that you certainly can not address from a federal level. Generally I think the system is failing you and the children. Maybe by involving parents in the educational process through charters or rebates for home school would help. The hard part is to standardize on acceptable measuring sticks.
Let those who can, do. Let those who won't fail, and leave them on their own. Care for those who can't.
