Better or Worse?

Is our country getting better or worse in education, generally speaking, of course? Let's look at the average SAT score for the last 40 years. Well, should we be concerned? I would say... yes!

Why are we not alarmed? I am weary of politicians claiming they have the answers to our educational woes. Let's look at the correlation between political involvement and test scores.

In 1965 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was launched as a comprehensive set of programs; it included the Title I program for disadvantaged children in order to address the problems of poor urban and rural areas. In that same year, the Higher Education Act authorized assistance for postsecondary education, including financial aid programs for needy college students.

In 1980, Congress established the Department of Education as a Cabinet level agency. Today this department operates programs that touch on every area and level of education. This Department's elementary and secondary programs annually serve nearly 14,000 school districts and some 56 million students attending roughly 99,000 public schools and 34,000 private schools. Department programs also provide grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 13 million postsecondary students.

Now, let's see... when do we start to see the sudden drop in scores? I believe it is a little before 1970, say 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was launched. Why are we not looking back to what we used to do to understand what we are no longer doing? Do politicians really want to solve this problem. My humble opinion is no.

Why do private and faith-based schools excel with less money and less resources? That answer is the answer to our educational problem in this country - competition! If you give parents a choice on where to send their children to school, within five years every poor school and poor teacher would be gone. Why? Those schools and those teachers would have no students. The system is set up for this. The bus fleets are there. The schools are there. All it would take is some re-organization, some energy and some effort.

Is this country really serious about its educational problem? Actions speak louder than words, I am told. Blessings!