'Dumbest Generation Getting Dumber'

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparison of 15-year-olds conducted by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that measures applied learning and problem-solving ability. In 2006, U.S. students ranked 25th of 30 advanced nations in math and 24th in science. McKinsey & Company, in releasing its report "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools" (April 2009) said, "Several other facts paint a worrisome picture. First, the longer American children are in school, the worse they perform compared to their international peers. In recent cross-country comparisons of fourth grade reading, math, and science, US students scored in the top quarter or top half of advanced nations. By age 15 these rankings drop to the bottom half. In other words, American students are farthest behind just as they are about to enter higher education or the workforce." That's a sobering thought. The longer kids are in school and the more money we spend on them, the further behind they get.

The great Walter Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University, effectively blows the whistle on the U.S. public school system and its gross failures. Read the entire article here.

School Choice--Charter Schools Chart Major Gains

During a recent debate with John McCain before the election, Barack Obama made the statement that he is against 'school choice' as a means to provide competition to failing public schools.

Instead, Obama pointed to D.C.'s Charter School program as a major success story.

McCain replied that the director of D.C.'s Charter Schools program supports the concept of school choice.

And why wouldn't he? Deciding to send one's children to a Charter School instead of a traditional public school is a choice parents make to improve the quality of education their children receive.

In California, for example, Charter Schools are outperforming traditional public schools among the state's poor.

Charter Schools are public schools that are run by independent nonprofit groups rather than the various state educational systems. These schools emphasize the basics of math and English and give the students all the tools necessary to succeed.

Public schools, by contrast, tend to view students in poor areas as victims. That very simple difference in perspective makes all the difference in how students perform. Children from poor families tend to have a strong, innate desire to succeed, despite commonly accepted educational dogma.

According to the California Charter Schools Association, 12 of the 15 top performing schools in the state that serve children in poverty are Charter Schools.

With the multiplicity of problems facing traditional public schools that seem to be failing the nation's poverty-stricken children, Charter Schools are one way to address those problems.