I care very much about improving education, and I mean the whole spectrum: elementary, secondary and college level. I tend to support the notion of national standards for the public education system, but I hasten to mention that I feel strong ambivalence about it as I read more of the pros and cons: see this Washington Post piece
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031000024.html
So I'm gonna stay tuned as closely as I can in tracking the new education proposal: see this item from The Slate http://slatest.slate.com/id/2247825/?wpisrc=newsletter
I assume in some astral plane it’s just dandy to hope that every HS grad will be “college ready” but here on the planet we love I think that’s a goal that is a really deadly distraction………..it just ain’t possible that every single 18-yr-old 1) wants to go to college 2) is capable of doing college work 3) has parents who can foot the bill 4) etc etc……………with the possible exception of all the kids at Lake Wobegon
Ain’t enough colleges to handle our annual high school output, many or most colleges most likely wouldn’t offer admission to the bottom half of your local high school senior class, ain’t enough Pell grants, etc etc
Why do we need to confuse the issue by suggesting that the purpose of public education is making everybody ready for college? I’m in favor of reaching an actionable consensus that the purpose of public education is to produce high school graduates. See this item from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-16-1Acollegeforall16_CV_N.htm
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