Posted on 08/29/2003 8:25:32 AM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat
Broadman & Holman, the publisher of my latest novel, "The Jericho Sanction," sent me out on the road this week to promote the book. It occurred to me as I was skimming news stories about America’s youngsters returning to school that if high school students were our "target audience," a sufficient number of them would not be able to read the words on the pages. Nor would their teachers.
A great disservice is being done to the young people of this country when it comes to preparing them intellectually for the challenges that lie ahead. When I was a student in New York’s public high schools, Shakespeare, Chaucer, "The Iliad" and "Paradise Lost" were required reading. We were forced to learn algebra, trigonometry and geometry even against our protests. To ensure that we understood the material, teachers used a novel concept -- they tested us on the course requirements.
When today’s high school students are tested, they don’t seem to perform very well. In June, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the "Nation's Report Card" showing that one in four 12th grade students are unable to read at a basic level. Only 36 percent of fourth grade students are able to master basic reading requirements.
In Maryland, half of the students who took "end-of-course examinations" failed them. The exams test students in government, algebra, English and biology. The State Board of Education decided to ignore the results and delay any further action on the matter for another year.
It was that kind of bureaucratic bungling that forced Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to make education reform a centerpiece of his administration. Long an opponent of "social promotion" from one grade to the next, Bush originally persuaded Florida legislators to forbid promotion to the fourth grade of the 30 percent of Florida third-graders who fail the basic literacy test. But the law contained a loophole that permitted promotion in cases where there was a "good cause." So while 30 percent of third-graders failed the exam, only 3 percent were actually retained.
Recognizing that teachers and administrators were abusing the "good cause" loophole, Bush succeeded this May in revising Florida’s education code so that retention is now mandatory for third-graders who can’t read.
Commenting on the NAEP test results, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said, "There is no scientific answer to why our high school seniors have performed so poorly on this reading assessment."
Here are a few reasons students are not performing well. For starters, too many public school teachers are not proficient in the subjects they teach.
Last year in Pennsylvania, more than one-third of the 12,000 prospective math and science teachers failed certification exams. Nearly half of those who would teach Spanish in the Keystone State failed to pass, and approximately one-third failed the special education certification requirements. Yet, nearly 4,000 "emergency" teaching permits were issued to fill classroom vacancies.
In New York, 3,300 black and Latino teachers are suing the state after failing their certification tests, claiming it has hurt their careers.
In Lawrence, Mass., one-third of the teachers tested for fluency in English failed. The tests were required after the public forced schools, through ballot initiative, to drop most bilingual education programs. In Lawrence, the fallacy of bilingual education goes all the way to the top. Wilfredo Laboy, who earns $156,560 as the superintendent of public schools in Lawrence, failed the basic literacy test that all Massachusetts teachers must pass. In fact, Laboy has failed the test three times, although his supporters insist that the fourth time will be the charm.
Another problem is that public money meant to support education is wasted. In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is opening the nation’s first homosexual-only public high school. He is also spending $20 million to support bilingual education -- even though the program is failing in neighboring Massachusetts -- and doing all this at the expense of six New York City firehouses he closed in the spring, citing budget constraints. Biloxi, Miss., located in a state with America’s poorest test scores, recently spent $2 million to install spy cameras in all classrooms. Somebody may want to look to see the last time George Orwell’s "1984" was last checked out of a Biloxi library.
And at its most recent convention in New Orleans, the National Education Association (NEA), which purports to be dedicated to teaching the nation’s public school students, had its delegates spend their time discussing and endorsing proposals that have nothing to do with education. For example, the NEA endorsed family planning, discrimination against home-schooled students, sex education, a national health care policy, statehood for the District of Columbia, and the International Court of Justice. Oh, yes, it also took the time to devote $1 million to electing Democrat candidates.
The reason public school students aren’t faring as well as they should is because they are being lead by politicians and education bureaucrats who care more about politics and political correctness than they do about educating America’s youth. Fortunately, new accountability standards are beginning to shake things up in the education establishment, and it's about time. After all, the writing has been on the wall for many years. They just haven’t been able to read it.
As an exercise, find the mistake in grammar in this sentence, Ollie.
It's no longer about education. It's all about taking our money and raising our taxes, and figuring out how to take more...Schools have turned into a giant money pit, socialist cesspool.
I disagree completely. I don't know if your statistics are correct or not (I'd like to see your source). But, poor educational standards, together with the breakdown of the American family, is the root of the problem. Don't buy into the nonsense about IQs - that's just an excuse.
Nowhere in my post was I "emotional". Are you projecting?
Are you sure that you are not a Democrat?
I'm growing quite used to Republicans calling me "Democrat" and Democrats calling me "Republican". The other day, I was called a "racist" by a Democrat on another board, just because I oppose Affirmative Action. Now, I come here and am called "Democrat" by you.
If I have to classify myself, I'm a libertarian. The underlying principle of "conservatism" is "individualism", and I really do see people as individuals.
I read once that reportedly 70% of American "blacks" can trace their heritage directly to Europe, as a result of generations of "race-mixing", so I don't put much stock in the notion of "race" or "race studies", either.
The summary of the study you linked admitted that the "black" children adopted were adopted at a later age, on average, that other factors could've come into play, and that no study is perfect. There are many influences outside the family, particularly if a child attends school.
The study you linked also put "mixed-race" children in the middle IQ group. I have personal experience raising "mixed-race" children. My oldest son, now only age 7, could read at a fifth-grade level by age 5. He would read astronomy books and knew more on the topic than most adults. Last year, my husband introduced him to algebra, and he picked it right up.
So, why is he performing so well? I think the reason is that we homeschool our children, and that is why I said that "education" makes the big difference. Also, we don't teach our children to identify only with certain people, or to define themselves in a limited way, and that makes a big difference, too. This past summer, we sent our oldest to school, and he was way ahead of his classmates, the vast majority of whom were white.
We know other "mixed-race" homeschoolers performing well above other students, too.
Maybe my one child (and probably the other two, though they're too young to tell) plus these other children are exceptions to the rule. But, then again, I know so many "black" people who are intelligent and "whites" and "Asians" who are not that, at this point, I just don't believe the "race statistics".
BTW, I guess you don't support Proposition 54- the Racial Privacy Initiative - on the ballot in CA to stop the CA state gov't from "classifying" people according to race...? It is backed by Republicans and conservatives, while the Democrats and liberals oppose it. Which side are you on, with that one?
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