[Cincinatus' Wife]

Lower standards keep black students down ***I'm sorry to see that the debate over education has become mired in race again. When Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and key African-American legislators opposed Gov. Sonny Perdue's suggestion that Georgia consider linking HOPE scholarships to SAT scores, they claimed to be out to protect black students. I agree with their assessment that, on average, African-American students often underperform white students on standardized tests such as the SAT, but I think that a long-term solution to this problem is a lot more complex.

The fact is that African-American children like mine who are from stable family backgrounds and attend competitive schools are doing well. Any legislative attempt to address the problem of offering African-American students more opportunity must also take into account equipping them to take advantage of those opportunities. We need to move past the political rhetoric and address the real needs of these students.

I am tired of the liberal assumption that the only way to help African-American students is to lower the bar. I am equally weary of my black colleagues who cry "racism" every time the bar is not lowered for them. Ultimately, with our state placing 50th in SAT scores for the nation, we need better SAT preparation for all college-bound students. This doesn't mean only special test-taking courses, but rigorous programs that will teach the vocabulary and math skills that the SAT assesses. Instea

[Cincinatus' Wife]

No excuses***"Excellent schools deliver a clear message to their students: No Excuses. No excuses for failing to do your homework, failing to work hard in general; no excuses for fighting with other students, running in the hallways, dressing inappropriately and so forth."

That's part of the prescription for ending educational mediocrity discussed in Abigail and Stephen Thernstrom's new book, "No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning" (Simon & Schuster, 2003).

It's no secret that, as the Thernstroms point out, the education achieved by white students is nothing to write home about. In civics, math, reading, writing and geography, nearly a quarter of all students leave high school with academic skills that are "Below Basic." In science, 47 percent leave high school with skills Below Basic, and in American history it's 57 percent. Below Basic is the category the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) uses for students unable to display even partial mastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at their grade level.

As dismal as these figures are, for black students it is magnitudes worse. According to NAEP findings, only in writing are less than 40 percent of black high school students Below Basic. In math, it's 70 percent, and science 75 percent. Blacks completing high school perform a little worse than white eighth-graders in both reading and U.S. history, and a lot worse in math and geography.

The Thernstroms report, "In math and geography, indeed, they know no more than whites in the seventh grade." From these facts, the Thernstroms conclude, "The employer hiring the typical black high school graduate (or the college that admits the average black student) is, in effect choosing a youngster who has made it only through the eighth grade."***