U.S. High Schools Get Bad Report Card
Results from The Nation's Report Card: 12th-Grade Reading and Mathematics 2005, show:
- Overall performance in reading at grade 12 has declined compared to 1992.
- Less than one fourth of high school students perform at or above “proficient” in mathematics.
- Gaps between white and minority students in reading proficiency have remained unchanged.
- All but the highest-performing students showed declining proficiency in reading and mathematics.
In response to the latest Nation’s Report Card, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings stated that, while the No Child Left Behind Act is having a positive effect in elementary and middle schools, steps must be taken to increase academic "rigor and accountability" in high schools. "If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores," said Spellings in a Department of Education press release.
Sec. Spellings touted President Bush’s proposed 2008 education budget which includes: a $1.2 billion increase in Title I funds for high schools; an additional $1 billion over five years for Academic Competitiveness Grants for low-income students who take on an advanced high school course load; and $365 million for the American Competitiveness Initiative to strengthen math and science instruction.
Also See: Pros & Cons of the No Child Left Behind Act (Liberal Politics)
Comments
I know that in Utah we have high school teachers leaving the profession left and right to take other jobs that pay better. Our govenor has been pushing for pay increase for the past couple years and finally got five thousand dollars. He was aiming for ten. He will try again next year. This brings the starting salary of teacher in Utah to between 30 and 34 thousand a year, depending on the district. (not bad for four years of college). Many teachers can leave the students behind and join the booming oil business where they can quadruple their salaries overnight. Teachers are people too, and they have families to feed. Many times we are seeing our teachers leave the profession. Standards are increasing and the student teacher ratios are getting worse. The teacher who stay with the profession are becoming overwelmed by being given more work without additional compensation. Their is just to much work for the work force we have. In any other field, the high demand would cause an increase in wage, but “not if my tax dollar has to pay for it.” Congress members vote on raising their salaries every year. Our tax dollars pay thier salaries too.