If you were reading a similar headline in the financial
section of the newspaper regarding the US dollar, there would be a great deal
of panic and anxiety. Why isn’t there similar concern about the declining value
of a high school diploma and what America’s high school graduates are capable
of? As most of us were enjoying the recent holiday season, a disturbing article
appeared in the Sunday, December 27th New York Times. On the surface
the news sounded upbeat- a rise in high school graduation rates. But dig a
little bit deeper and concerns arise about whether students are ready for
college or even the work force for that matter. According to a report issued by
the United States Department of Education indicated that the national
graduation rate for 2013-14 leapt to 82%, which was the highest rate on record.
But the results of a readiness test of twelfth graders exposed the fact that
fewer than 40% of the test takers were prepared for college level work. The
article went on to point out that colleges still have to offer remediation
classes for incoming freshmen and that dropout rates,particularly in community colleges, are still high.
Business leaders in the state of South Carolina home to
assembly plants for companies like Boeing, Volvo and, BMW have expressed concern
about workforce preparedness for high school graduates.
A further investigation of this phenomenon revealed that a
number of states have watered down their graduation requirements. According to the NYT article, 32 states no
longer require that their students complete four years of English and
mathematics through Algebra II. Similar shortcuts are popping up in schools
around the country.
It is imperative that our nation’s educators as well as
business leader get together to develop a meaningful but rigorous curriculum to
produce the high school graduates we need to sustain our country. It should be
noted that public education in America is not stipulated in the US Constitution.
It is up to US to make sure our students succeed and that a high school diploma
has value.
C.2016 J. Margolis
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