Since I don’t have any kids, it’s easy for me to forget about the crisis that the public education system faces and only worry about this country’s problems that directly affect me. Being a public school teacher, my roommate John puts it into better perspective from time to time and reminds me of the problems that the system isn’t handling very well. This NY Times opinion article focuses on the dropout rate and the lack of schools’ ability to equip the students with the needed skills for success.
On the dropout rate (One million students per year):
[It is] a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.
And then:
Roughly a third of all American high school students drop out. Another third graduate but are not prepared for the next stage of life — either productive work or some form of post-secondary education.
And Bill Gates’ brutal critique of America’s high schools:
“I don’t just mean that they are broken, flawed or underfunded, though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high schools — even when they’re working as designed — cannot teach all our students what they need to know today.”
