School-of-Thought

Dear Secretary Spellings:

Thank you for your renewed focus on drop-out prevention. The newly released study, “Cities in Crisis” is sobering, and paints a graphic picture why , now more than ever, strong but flexible national education policy is required.  I am  hopeful the administration and Congress can come together as soon a possible to reauthorize and re-energize a re-worked No Child Left Behind. 

Humbly, it seems to me, developing a national standard that counts disaggregated drop-out rates the same everywhere in the US is an important first step to recognizing the extent of the problem, but the more meaningful and urgent question is, ”what can a new NCLB do to realistically address the atrocity of our failing schools?”  Surely, anyone that cares about children or the future of our country must see the wisdom of our national leaders putting aside partisan differences to answer this question.  Graduation rates of 25 or 35 or 50 percent are simply unacceptable. 

Thank you for your efforts.  

Sincerely,

Fred Deutsch