'Miracle'--School Fakery

[davidinalameda]

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/200309125

When George W. Bush was governor of Texas, he was impressed by the amazing record of the Houston school system under superintendent Rod Paige. Houston high schools — even those in impoverished slums — reported virtually no dropouts. The extremely high graduation rate was dubbed the “Texas miracle.”

After Bush landed in the White House, he named Paige to be America’s secretary of education. The president said the Texas superintendent knew that “accountability is the true foundation of education reform.” The administration’s “No Child Left Behind” program was drafted, with Houston as Exhibit A.

Then the truth began leaking out. A Texas TV station reported that one Houston school with “zero dropouts” actually had 30. A state legislator demanded an investigation. Probers found that 16 Houston high schools failed to report 3,000 dropouts, just in one year. Punishments were imposed on school officials who faked records.

[Mark David]

1. Fake it 'till you make it!

Confronted by the inability of Texas officials to separate truth from error, you might assume that "public education" is somewhat of an oxymoron in the Houston public schools. (Just look at Houston's zoning laws, and you too will wonder how folks unable to differentiate between a park and the city dump can ever graduate from high school! :-))

Given the mendacity of Houston administrators--and their remarkable ability to misrepresent the public record for so long--one can only ruminate as to whether the punishment meted out to these dedicated public servants was entirely apropos. Maybe these guys should apply for key positions in the Treasury Department. Heaven knows, the big spenders in Washington can always use more creative chefs to cook the fiscal books!

[ClintonTyree]

2. This entire Texas education scam...............

was reported on before the election by (I think) 60 minutes. Teachers, administrators and such absolutely loathed the Bush system but after that it was never picked up on again. Nobody cared. They were too busy criticizing Gore's wardrobe, or taking everything he said out of context, you know, the important stuff. Bottom line, the Bush education system was and is an abject failure.

[patrice]

3. Dropouts? So they're getting rid of . . . .

those they can't "succeed" with. Man, that's cold.

[LWolf]

4. Actually, its part of the plan.

Cheap labor conservatives.

All those dropouts are the cheap labor to keep basic services going without paying too much for them.

Why else do you think that the laws about test scores are written so that it's impossible to comply? The only way to comply with the law is to delete large numbers of students before they take the tests.

And if you don't comply, your funding is on the line. So of course, rather than be declared bankrupt and be open to takeover or disbanding, schools will find ways to comply. They don't even have to try. The testing culture has made school stressful and hateful enough that many students are glad to have an excuse to drop out.