Does this seem like another quickfix from hell?
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings wants the pressure on schools to graduate students in four years.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/29/high.school.dropouts.ap/index.html
wow, this article is retarded. She's upset a the 25% dropout rate so she wants to make schools responsible for graduation rates AND she wants it to be in 4 years?! I thought standardized tests were a problem when schools started teaching the tests, now we are teaching the tests AND schools will be graduating students who are not ready just to meet a new quota and avoid embarrassment. They are trying to tack it onto that No Student Left Behind thing. Well guess what, when an inner-city kid has to work to contribute to their family and go to school, it might take an extra year or two; that's something schools should be proud of, not embarrassed and humiliated by. That child fulfilled ALL their responsibilities. What of the 75% who would normally graduate; what happens when their classes are now made up of 25% of people who don't want to be there? Disruptive envirnments really aren't that good for learning. Getting shot by a gang kid who is being forced to stay in school isn't going to improve little Julie's or Marcus's grades.
The problem with the educational system isn't one they can fix in a heartbeat or a year. What they have to do is start hammering the kindergarteners with "SCHOOL IS IMPORTANT. YOU MUST GRADUATE TO SURVIVE. THE SACRIFICES YOU MAKE TO GET GOOD GRADES AND GRADUATE WILL BE WORTH IT" it should be a daily mantra, something to say immediately following the pledge, at the final bell of the day, reinforced everyday, every grade, at athletic events, before football games and nascar races, maybe get their parents to say it with them once a day on non-school days. Let kids know it is OKAY to go 5 or 6 years. Learn the material, be ready for the real world, don't sweat it if you're going to repeat a year because you didn't get a good biology score; you are working at Wendy's to help keep a roof over your parents' and your head; you are doing the right thing. Hopefully, As they have grown-up with these new School attitudes, perhaps they will pass it along to their children?
I knew someone who was very intelligent but had a kid in his 11th grade year. He ended up repeating 11th because he was working full time to support his new family. If the Secretary of Educating is such a wench from hell that she should want people to sacrifice their responsibilities for a nice Certificate of Attendence(for those not in ohio, that is what you get if you graduate without passing the senior proficiences) and a crappy GPA because you rushed to get done in 4 years, she can go do naughy, bad-word things things with herself.
I made this public on the off chance she might actually get wind of it.