In 2003 New York for the first time required all students to pass a math Regents Exam to graduate. By an amazing coincidence, there was a massive failure rate. The state investigated, and manufactured excuses for why the exam was defective. E.g. One problem with a diagram failed to state that the diagram was not drawn to scale. I checked with a ruler; it was drawn to scale. There was a massive outcry from all parties -- well, except me -- that the state had committed misconduct and should reconsider standardized exams. The critics included parents. The episode convinced me that most parents do not care about their kids' educations; they care about social advancement. Prior to that incident I had considered running for my Board of Education, but reconsidered it. If parents do not care about education, and the government does not care either, then democracy is working perfectly. What we need is to get parents to care. We can't just set off alarms among parents in Baltimore and Chicago; the parents don't and won't care.
The sole purpose of our government has become making life so miserable that only more government can possibly fix the problem…
The most important educational institution in the country is the family.
In 2003 New York for the first time required all students to pass a math Regents Exam to graduate. By an amazing coincidence, there was a massive failure rate. The state investigated, and manufactured excuses for why the exam was defective. E.g. One problem with a diagram failed to state that the diagram was not drawn to scale. I checked with a ruler; it was drawn to scale. There was a massive outcry from all parties -- well, except me -- that the state had committed misconduct and should reconsider standardized exams. The critics included parents. The episode convinced me that most parents do not care about their kids' educations; they care about social advancement. Prior to that incident I had considered running for my Board of Education, but reconsidered it. If parents do not care about education, and the government does not care either, then democracy is working perfectly. What we need is to get parents to care. We can't just set off alarms among parents in Baltimore and Chicago; the parents don't and won't care.