higher standards and lower classes

From the US Department of Education:


"Today's study confirms what we've known for a long time: States are setting the bar too low. In all but a few cases, states aren't expecting students to meet NAEP's standard of proficiency. Far too many states are telling students that they are proficient when they actually are performing below NAEP's basic level. At a time when we should be raising standards to compete in the global economy, more states are lowering the bar than raising it. We're lying to our children when we tell them they're proficient but they're not achieving at a level
that will prepare them for success once they graduate."

"I am grateful that leaders from 48 states are working together to set standards that will determine whether students are college- and career-ready. Their work will set a common standard that all states will be able to use to measure the success of their students."

"But it will take more than college- and career-ready standards to succeed in school reform. We'll need tests that fairly and accurately measure students' performance on those standards. We'll need data systems that help teachers know whether students are on track for success in college and the workplace. We'll need effective teachers in every classroom, especially in ones serving students that need the most help. We'll also need strategies to turn around our lowest-performing schools."

It's a shame that our kids aren't good enough for our businesses (our businesses are so smart, after all). Our businesses want smart kids like they have overseas (where they have more honors kids than we have people: try competing with that.) After all, it's a competition: the winner gets a good job and the loser gets a bad one, or prison, because they just weren't smart enough. We are trying hard to spread those good jobs around but our schools just can't produce the kind of smart kids we need for those jobs. 

Kids need to try harder.

It is unfortunate that so many families paid taxes for this chance to be mis-manufactured in a compulsory school system.  These families should turn off the TV more, then their kids would be smarter and get good jobs. It is sad but then, we wouldn't want dumb people who need training in our businesses, would we?

Fortunately, there are good jobs for a few highly-paid people who can figure how to get the assembly line moving again and start spitting out highly standardized students as proved by remote corporate testing. We need more tests and more data  to compete globally with everyone overseas where they do education right (but not healthcare).  

If schools were a common enterprise, funded by the citizens as a social service, they would be a voluntary community resource, serving our children and families. But our compulsory public education system has been in place long enough to make most citizens unable to understand the issue of education reform.   

Real reform means an end to compulsory education in large institutions and the beginning of community-oriented, decentralized local schools and cooperatives offering our children and their families educational options the families and communities decide on.