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Many of the students graduating High School have not even mastered what used to be considered a ninth-grade level of proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic

Right, and the question is, why?

I say, it's the students.

In 1941, 25% of white 18 year olds completed twelfth grade. That's probably the "natural" HS graduation rate.

By that I mean that, left to their own devices, 25% of white 18 year olds have the ability and or the interest to complete 4 years of English, 3 years of history, math through trig, biology, chemistry, physics, and become semi-fluent in Latin or a modern foreign language.

Trying to go much beyond this entails massive spending, massive fraud to conceal the "failures" of the teachers/schools to accomplish the impossible.

And, of course, the stakes are hugely increased by the attempt to send most of the 75% who don't even belong in twelfth grade on to college.