This page was last updated on January 21, 2010.
Failing grade; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 21, 2010.
“There is one fundamental and absolute difference between public schools and other educational settings (private, parochial, charter, home schooling, etc.): Every child who is in a non-public school is there because his/her parents or guardians place a premium on education. Public schools do not have that educational edge.” This is an interesting comment given that Times editorials appear to express a dislike for charter schools.
“Another reason education reforms are doomed to fail is that Americans don’t want an educational meritocracy that rewards winners and losers with grade that really matter, A’s that are A’s, B’s that are B’s, C’s that are C’s, D’s that are D’s, and, yes, F’s that are F’s. Instead, they are firm dwellers (and believers) in the land of fictional Lake Woebegon [sic], where all the children are above average, and who get upset when their children come home B’s instead of A’s. Never mind that their children are really doing C or D work.” First, I think it’s wrong to generalize and throw all Americans in the pot. When the Times uses this tactic, it usually means most of the people in the target group are lefties. You may recall the “fictional Lake Woebegon [sic]” is the creation of lefty Garrison Keillor. Second, keep in mind Times editorials constantly lobby against standardized tests that theoretically address the problem of inflated grades. Heck, even the end of this editorial complains about “More mindless testing, more impossible-to-achieve standards and more unrealistically great expectations.”
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