[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Our public schools are in terrible shape. My stepdaughter was the Valedictorian of her senior class and will be a 16 year old freshman studying medical engineering. My wife, a Chinese-born naturalized citizen, informed me that our girl would only be considered an above-average student in China! Luckily, her mom has been able to give her an advantage over the other students by supplementing her education at home. What does that say about American public schools?

[spudsmaki]

My wife, a Chinese-born naturalized citizen, informed me that our girl would only be considered an above-average student in China!

I kept telling my kids, "There's someone in China who wants your job. And will do it for a dollar an hour. Finish your homework! NOW!" It worked a whole lot better after our oldest finished a Rotary Exchange in Mexico. The pictures were enough, actually.

I was reading your post just as Dianne Sawyer was bemoaning the fact that our poor daughters are totally underdiagnosed for ADD and are Ritalin-deprived.

When I was a youngin being able the read was the only criterion for promotion from kindergarten to first grade. Today, a high school senior is lucky to have a vocabulary of 2,000 words. Our NEA schoolteachers are stupid as fenceposts, our children aren't competing now and it's getting worse.