Virginia? Education Lovers? Naw.

Here's a question that's come up in Virginia. You know, the state for lovers. Gun lovers, that is. But this question is about education lovers. The state got a waiver on No Child Left Behind to require less from some students than from others. Say what? Yep, if you happen to be Asian, you'll be expected to do a bit better than white students. Hispanics, blacks and special needs students won't have to try as hard on those standardized tests. This according to an article in the Washington Post this morning. So what I don't understand is how that's gonna help the students. Oh, it'll help Asian students and even white students, but does this mean that schools and teachers won't have to try as hard for Blacks, Hispanics and Special Needs students? Shouldn't schools and teachers be required to try harder with students who are having a harder time understanding the curriculum? What does this say about what kind of life you want for these lower performing students? Or don't they matter enough to bother with? Why not just ignore them altogether? Or send them off to a factory instead of first grade? I mean, if you aren't interested in teaching them, wouldn't it be kinder to at least show them how to place part A into Part B all morning, then take a ten minute lunch break before its back to the mines? I somewhat understand the difficulty of teaching a child who just doesn't get it. I even understand that it requires more time and more staff and more innovation and more motivation, to get some students to understand and learn some things. I even understand that all this costs more money which means more taxes. I get it, honest. But ya have to look at the whole picture. Without that better education, they will be more likely to end up on welfare, commit crimes and in general, be a drag on our economy for their whole lives. So which is more cost effective? Until politicians understand the ramifications to their actions or non actions, we'll continue to decline as a nation. Houston, we have a problem.