Invest in protecting children from poverty, not in national standards
Sent to the Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2011
Re: (“Backsliding on school reform, “ November 5).
The Times faults the Harkens-Enzi proposal for a new education law because it lacks national standards. Without national standards, the Times insists, schools will have “no incentive to improve.”
In reality, American teachers have been successful without national standards: Middle-class American students attending well-funded schools score at the top of the world on international tests. Our overall scores are mediocre
