If you value a level playing field, this is one way to go about it.

Snark aside (but when do I ever do that?), the state run effective monopoly on education really, really, can’t be expected to produce an educated public. The one size fits all government option just doesn’t work very well .

Sure, I have a very high IQ, I had proffessional parents, and I didn’t actually work at it, but in the end, it still is up to the student. A teacher provides tools and exercises and maybe inspiration but that isn’t the same as being the one doing the work.

My kids have been out of school – in OR for quite some time and I obviously for a long time, but I’m unsure what it is that either the critics or the boosters of the system think is the root cause of education failure or success since they don’t even seem to speak the same language.

If a child’s culture doesn’t value education and instill that desire there isn’t really much the physical plant can do about that. I guess I see the problem as broader based than the school board.

My own sense is that the community of educational administrators in this nation value social engineering over academic achievement. Instead of propelling our students to be as smart as they possibly can, their overriding goal is to create a classless society without distinctions between one student and another. They want Stepfords, not scholars.