Knuckleheads, Florida style
Attention, academic shoppers! Sanity spill in the Florida aisle! Just when you thought it was safe to assume that our government schools couldn't possibly dumb down what is laughingly referred to as education any more than it is, they launch yet another theoretical administrative Scud, thereby proving true the venerable "ass out of u and me" adage.
Yes indeed, here's the latest bureaucratic brainstorm for all you moms and dads to ponder: The United States Department of Education recently unveiled an extended calendar that gives high school
students up to six years to earn their diplomas. And of course Florida's state and local educators are at this moment examining the cost of implementing such a program in high schools throughout the Sunshine State. For those of you who care about America's future, this cannot be good news. Why? Read on.
From more dumber to most dumbest
Apparently, education necromancers at all levels of government are not happy standing pat with the existing concoctions they conjured up to marginalize learning within our government school systems. Heavens, no ... It isn't enough that they've already imperiled our children's futures with No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Outcome-Based Education, devalued FCAT testing proficiencies, eliminating Cursive writing instruction, "Active Learning," and de-emphasized grade systems, etc.
I'm certain you could add plenty of your own grievances to this shameful litany -- so by all means go right ahead.
And to compound an already bad situation, teachers unions at the national, state, and local levels have fought fang and claw to deny the right of parents to opt for educational placement alternatives, funding opportunities for alternative schooling, or home schooling.
Unfortunately, far too many of our students are failing to graduate, and the ones that do manage to eke out a diploma are mostly deficient in a fundamental, broad-spectrum knowledge base.
Cui bono?
And so our academic brain surgeons need yet another scam to cook the graduation rate books.
You see, those pesky little rates are tied to NCLB grading and thus ultimately, funding; the higher the graduation rate, the more money is available. But why would they consider an extended graduation timeframe, you ask? Because in 2007, the Florida Department of Education reported a statewide high school graduation rate of 71 percent. However, an independent analysis by the Manhattan Institute calculated the rate at 61 percent, ranking Florida 41st in the nation.
Oops.
Yes, my friends, Florida has a problem with its graduation rate -- even after lowering the scholastic bar. On Florida's Treasure Coast, for example, the number of students who failed to pass the FCAT exit exam and were still allowed to graduate rose significantly in the past five years, from 135 in 2002-2003 to 6,545 in 2007-2008.
And then there are the enabling ploys (known in academic circles as "alternate assessments") with which Florida is attempting but failing to disguise its graduation rates, and why the state is seriously considering extended graduation:
- The FCAT battery is set at a 10th-grade level, and students get multiple chances to pass;
- The state's designated "passing" score is 100 or more points under the national average of 500 on each portion of the test;
- Florida promotes enrollment in a General Equivalency Diploma preparation course; and
- The state simply allows students to request an FCAT waiver.
Transparent image dearly bought
We all realize there are isolated instances where employing such "alternate assessments" are warranted, as in the case of special needs students. However, we also know that the academicians behind these shell games are merely attempting to inflate their graduation rates -- with dire consequences which include a devalued education and diminished opportunities for Florida's children.
And for those of you smugly smirking over Florida's dilemma who happen to reside in Atlanta, Albany, Ashtabula, Abilene, or Albuquerque, guess what? Your states are simply slightly higher or slightly lower in the academic food chain -- certainly nothing to puff up about.
It is common practice for government bureaucracies and school districts to tweak numbers when it comes to punching up the effectiveness of their educational programs, products, practices, and policies. But today, reality shows us that the business world simply cannot find enough competent government school graduates to fill their needs -- or even enough graduates with the capacity to be trained.
Across the nation, our universities and colleges spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on remedial courses for incoming freshmen; Two additional years of high school immersion within a failing system won't do anything to change that.