American Education Continues Its Decline

Last month I posted about the inadequate preparation American students have for entering college. Only 25% of graduating seniors who took the ACT test (meaning they were considering going to college) could reach the established benchmarks in all four areas of the test. Reaching the ACT benchmarks means a student has a 50% chance of passing college level coursework, so the failure of 75% of graduating seniors to reach all of these benchmarks is very troubling.

Now there is evidence from another source that verifies the inadequate preparation our students are getting in our schools in general. The SAT test scores for the nation have been released. The SAT test is the other test determining college preparedness of graduating seniors. Sadly, the average SAT reading scores for the nation reached its lowest level in the history of the test. And the reading and math scores combined reached a low that has not been seen since 1995.

It should be beginning to be obvious to even the densest person that we are failing in our efforts to improve education. George Bush passed his ridiculous "No Child Left Behind" program, and Barack Obama tried to improve that program. But the fact is that more children are being left behind all the time. We seem to have abandoned the effort to teach our children how to think in favor of teaching them how to take a (government-mandated) test (a "skill" that will do them no good once they graduate).

Here are the national average scores (with a score of 800 being perfect):
Reading..........497
Math..........514
Writing..........489

And here in Texas the scores are even worse (in all three areas):
Reading..........479
Math..........502
Writing..........465

Looking at those sub-par scores, one would think the legislature and State Board of Education would be shamed into taking action -- action to improve the quality of education in this state. But the sad fact is that the State Board is only interested in trying to inject religion into the science classes and their own right-wing ideology into the history and government classes. And the legislature just cut another $5 billion dollars from education funding (even though Texas already had the lowest level of per-pupil funding in the nation).

To those in power politics and religion are more important than giving our children a good education. Is it any wonder that other nations are racing past America in providing a quality education for their children? How are we as a state or a nation supposed to compete on the future world stage? I realize we are in a recession and funds are short, but education is not something that can only be fully funded in good times. In this modern world, education is not a luxury -- it is a necessity (for our children and our nation).