I see where the State of California

 is going to be issuing high school diplomas to a bunch of people that have flunked the pre-graduation test.

As usual, when in doubt lower the standards. This is really not anything new because I was very unmotivated in high school and looking back on it I think a couple of my grades got upped to get rid of me.

Granted, I taught myself things like celestial navigation (I'm rusty now) and a bunch of other things but I think I was probably whisked through. I digress.

Recently a pair of women graduated from Ranger school and by all accounts I have heard (including a former instructor, recently retired with no reason to lie) they did it honestly. They met the standards. 

Fact is the women MET THE STANDARDS. The standards were not lowered. I have no problem with that whatsoever.

A person graduating from high school should have a certain level of education and a standard that employers can rely on. Employers often put a lot of stock in a person's education. They feel that it is an indication of what they can expect from someone they are hiring.

They expect that someone with a high school diploma can read and write at a certain level. They expect that they can count and figure a few things out. (An awful lot of people in very high places should be sent back to high school and learn to count. They will find out that you can't spend more than you take in successfully. I digress.)

While I realize the standards of a high school graduate may vary from state to state, or even county to county, the state or municipality should set a standard and either hold with it, or raise it. Lowering a standard should not be an option.

One of the things that a geographical area seems to be judged by is the dropout/flunkout rate. It's really a double sided standard. While a big part of it is certainly socio-economic, another part of it is how well the standards are adhered to.

It strikes me that a high dropout rate in a lower socio-economic area is indicitive not of the ability of the residents but of the stoock they put in formal education. If the locals don't see the need for an education they tend to drop out.

On the other hand, in a higher socio-economic area a higher flunkout rate may be indicitave that the school has opted to adhere to a certain level of education before issuing a diploma. This is not a bad thing as it means that the holder of a diploma can be expected to have a certain level of education.

In my opinion the dropout rate is more indicitave of the socio-economic area of the school. Lowering the standards is not the answer because society as a whole loses. Schools should simply set and hold a standard and let the dropout rate fall where it may.

A lot of people point out that dropping out is an indictor of future failure and to some extent they are right. They worry about the lack of a diploma being a ticket toward failure. To some extent they are right again.

Still, lowering the standards is not the answer. Holding a set standard is a lot closer to the truth as it gives prospective employers something to work with in hiring.

Of course, in come the liberals that want to give everything away. They say that a high school diploma is necessary to raise the poor out of poverty. This holds a certain amount of water. They run on and on about how hard poverty is to overcome. The truth is that it isn't as hard as liberals claim. All one has to do is apply themselves and use their talents.

A basic K-12 education in this country is free. If someone doesn't take advantage of it it is not our problem. You can drive a horse to water but you can't make him drink. There are not a whole lot of excuses for not getting a high school education.

I have also heard that in Tennessee that two years of community college are free. Community colleges are great places to learn a skill and they work with their students. There's little excuse for a rasonably intelligent Tennessee resident not to enter the work force with a marketable skill of some sort.

The tools for reasonable success are there and if the schools would stop worrying about the dropout rate and worry about holding a standard everyone would be better off.

We used to lead the world in education but we have decided to lower our standards. We're paying for this one.




To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY