OK. Obama/Duncan/Gates School "Reform" Model: The results Are IN !!! Today's NYT: P. A1

[Swede Atlanta]

51. My only comment is this did not start with Obama.....

If you recall Senator Ted Kennedy worked with the GWB administration (and others) to establish NCLB. I sincerely believe Kennedy intended the best outcome and believed this program was one instrument that would help improve the performance of American schools. But as we know under NCLB the federal government imposed another mandate on states without providing a funding mechanism. So the program has suffered both from a lack of funding but also comprehensive evaluation and monitoring.

Unfortunately, to the poster's point, Obama has bought into this program. Whether that is because they believe in it or have chosen other priorities and don't want to pick another fight with Congress is anyone's guess.

I have always maintained that standardized tests do not test knowledge nor aptitude, at least not for children and adolescents. Yet in our society we use them as part of admissions criteria to universities as well as for graduate programs - GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.

I have no children but as an outsider looking in I see a number of things that concern me...

(1) Teachers are no longer respected and, unfortunately due to the low starting salaries and the conditions in which they must teach, we don't necessarily attract the best and brightest to the profession. That is not to say that we do not have very capable teachers but the profession as a whole is not exactly a magnet

(2) Curricula are no longer focused on delivering a quality "liberal" education of reading, writing, math, science, social studies and the arts. Curricula are often too light on the things students need to be prepared to enter society and too heavy on sports and electives. Electives are fine once a student is performing in the basics at a competent level

(3) Our politically correct society no longer expects students to respect teachers and administrators and to adhere to rules of decorum and behavior. On the one hand we have "no tolerance" policies for a student that might forget an bring a small pen knife to school but absolve them for tardiness, absences, bullying, etc. There is no longer a sense of respect and order in many classrooms. This has been hammered home to me by several of my friends who are teachers and administrators

(4) Parental and societal involvement and focus on achievement and success is lacking. Some parents see schools as babysitters for their children but will not support the schools when there are disciplinary problems. Some parents, understandably, have little to no time to be involved in their children's lives, let alone their education. Parents are working several jobs, coming and going and sometimes lack or don't take time to monitor their children's education, work with them on homework, school projects, etc.

(5) Schools still seem too focused on preparing students for college. Our focus for K-8 should be on establishing competency in the "core" subjects. Those core subjects are necessary for all children, regardless of the career path they may take. If we accomplished that with some degree of consistency, then we need to find ways to help guide and promote children in education that will help prepare them for their specific areas of interest and career choice. In my view we have come to expect universities to finish the job of the K-12 systems in providing that "liberal" education that used to be accomplished in K-8 or at least K-12. We need to begin to build out programs that prepare children for different career paths including trade schools, technical schools, etc.

(6) Family lives have become merry-go-rounds. There are far too many extra-curricular activities, especially sports. I see parents I work with exhausted each morning after having shuttled 2 or 3 children from school to football or dance lessons and back again. There is no quality time, no family meals, no opportunity to find out what's really going on in a child's life. Our "always connected" world means children are too focused on their tablets, computers or smart phones to engage one another in meaningful interaction.

I don't have an answer but these are some of the things I see as problematic and must definitely contribute to the failure of our educational system to meet the needs of our children and, sadly, for us as a nation going forward. I got a high quality PUBLIC education. There were no private schools, even religious, in the small town where I grew up. But the public schools delivered quality. There was order in the classroom. Parents were actively engaged in children's lives. Extra curricular activities were only AFTER homework and home chores were done.