No Child Left Behind

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Ft. Myers, FL - An on-line forum I frequent has several vehement Bush hater members. Their latest cause for jubilation is that many Republican members of the House and Senate have banded together to overturn the no child left behind act.

Here's part of a Washington Post article on the subject:More than 50 GOP members of the House and Senate --

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Now compare that to United States high school graduation rates.

• Only 70% of all students in public high schools graduate, and only 32% of all students leave high school qualified to attend four-year colleges.
  
• Only 51% of all black students and 52% of all Hispanic students graduate, and only 20% of all black students and 16% of all Hispanic students leave high school college-ready.
  
• The graduation rate for white students was 72%; for Asian students, 79%; and for American Indian students, 54%. The college readiness rate for white students was 37%; for Asian students, 38%; for American Indian students, 14%.

Manhattan Institute

And take a look at what's happening with our inner city schools...WASHINGTON - Students in a handful of big-city school districts have a less than 50-50 chance of graduating from high school with their peers, and a few cities graduate far fewer than half each spring, according to research released on Tuesday.

Fourteen urban school districts have on-time graduation rates lower than 50%; they include Detroit, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

The findings present a bleak picture and are sure to generate controversy as lawmakers and others push to keep U.S. students competitive globally.

While the basic finding that the nation's overall graduation rate is about 70% is not new, the study suggests that graduation rates are much lower than previously reported in many states. It also could bring the dropout debate to the local level, because it allows anyone with Internet access to view with unprecedented detail data on the nation's 12,000 school districts.

Among the nation's 50 largest districts, the study finds, three graduate fewer than 40%: Detroit (21.7%), Baltimore (38.5%) and New York City (38.9%).
USA Today - Big-city schools struggle with graduation rates
94% graduation compared to 70% nationwide and 21.7% in Detroit... What was it you said the Japanese were doing wrong again? I think I missed something here.

No I don't think we should do everything the Japanese do. But I am advocating independent national standards testing, strictly administered and done often. This way not only do the students get a grade, but the school is graded as well.

We might even be able to get help to the students that need it a little sooner too.