Inequality. Mostly it’s inequality of opportunity. Which comes down to inequality of education. America’s real and growing gap is between the better educated and the less educated —who earn much less. And children from poor and minority families get crappier education. That’s America’s great scandal.
But graduation rates, especially in poor/minority districts, have been rising. Good news? Not so fast. The Economist recently reported that many districts have responded to the pressure to improve graduation rates by simply lowering standards, to hand out more diplomas.
Good in theory perhaps; but in The Economist’s telling, in practice this is often a fudge to change a failing grade into a passing one. It’s “all about manipulating the system,” one teacher is quoted. Students can repeat online exams — with the same questions — until they pass. “Most teachers just gave the students the answers.”
The Economist does note in passing “some pockets of real success —high-performing charters in cities have helped many poor minority students most at risk of dropping out if left in traditional public schools.”