Applauding Public School Successes and Progress
In education reform, it is often easy to focus on the negative. A third of all kids are not reading proficient in third grade. No coincidence, the high school dropout rate is also about a third. We have stagnant test scores, even as state standards were reduced. We are slipping in international comparisons. And even the U.S. Secretary of Education says four in five public schools in our nation are likely not making adequate yearly progress.
But today I am here to praise some of our public schools, not bury them. In schools across the nation, educators are recognizing there are serious problems and there are real, productive solutions for addressing those problems. And in those schools and those communities that are fortunate enough to have superintendents, principals, teachers, and other educators enacting those solutions, the kids are reaping the benefits.
Today's case in point is up in the Nutmeg State. Yes, Connecticut has the largest achievement gaps in the
