We've always been able to console ourselves with "Well, at least Mississippi is worse," when it comes to educational statistics.
Mississippi has done the unthinkable: passed South Carolina on the "Nation's Report Card." South Carolina is still reeling from the news, especially since its Department of Education just released a half-a-million-dollar campaign to convince everyone that its schools really aren't so bad.
We don't have Mississippi to kick around anymore.
No longer can educators say that it's just poverty and race that determine who falls to the bottom on these measures. Time for some soul searching on the part of educrats.
For sure, federal meddling in South Carolina's schools hasn't helped. Importing citizens from other states hasn't either. What's next?
The push for more pre-k funding is a non-starter. Case after case has revealed that early intervention fades by fourth grade, just the point when students are tested in this case. No, what's really needed is parental intervention. Want a preview of what that can do? Look to Meeting Street Schools. Its staff will explain that having a responsible parent or guardian involved makes all the difference.
Maybe the Guardian Ad Litem program needs to be expanded to our failing schools for those students whose families refuse to engage.
At least we'll always have New Mexico. We hope.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment