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In 1983 a Presidential commission warned that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people." More than two decades later, that report, "A Nation At Risk," still resonates.America's schools are failing us. They're not preparing enough young people to succeed in the 21st-century workplace. Standardized test scores say student achievement is essentially stagnant. But those scores don't tell the whole story of this emerging crisis. Consider that:
- nearly 30 percent of students don't graduate from high school
- 40 percent of college freshmen need remedial classes because they are unprepared
- while U.S. grade-schoolers outrank many of their international peers, high-schoolers don't fare so well.
So, a good first step: Lift our expectations for what each child is capable of learning. A solid second step: Adopt national education standards that emphasize core studies -- math, science, English and history -- and measure results with national testing. In an age when digesting a technical manual requires as much smarts as understanding a textbook, all students need the same base of knowledge, whether or not they're college-bound.
And a third step: Give vocational training the respect it deserves. Not everyone should be on a college track -- and a strong vocational curriculum might just lower that 30% high school dropout rate.
No single fix -- higher standards, charter schools, revising funding formulas, merit pay for teachers -- can magically solve our educational deficits. What's needed is a systematic, national strategy that combines the smartest reforms -- and takes bold risks.
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