re: a lack of education

From the Washington Post:

Non-English Speakers Neglected, Weast Says

Children who speak little or no English have been largely invisible in Montgomery County schools and easily ignored, officials concede. And a new report has found that that neglect has meant that these children who start school behind, stay behind.

The report, which Superintendent Jerry D. Weast is to present to Board of Education members tomorrow, found that the district has failed to train teachers or track the students' progress. It also found that the quality of education varies wildly from school to school.

But these were the same problems found in public schools when I was in elementary and high schools. And that's 30+ years now, and San Francisco. Billions (trillions?) of dollars later and the problems...persist?

As for those who oppose standardized testing:

And new federal legislation requires that all these students take high-stakes assessment tests; their scores can no longer be thrown out. These students routinely score between the 20th and 40th percentiles on such tests. English speakers, on average, score in the 70th percentile.

That, Weast says, means things must change. Fast.

Thus, the testing is pushing for change, because it has pointed out that the system has failed--again!