Bad Students Hold Back Public Schools
Re “Cooking the Graduation Numbers,” Commentary, Dec. 11: The state Department of Education is guilty of misrepresenting not only graduation rates throughout California but also school crime. Nevertheless, the federal government’s hands are not clean either. The No Child Left Behind Act prevents states from flunking out students who will not study, despite the best efforts of their teachers, and from expelling students who turn schools into blackboard jungles.
If public schools were granted the same freedom in these two areas as private and parochial schools enjoy, there would be little difference in their academic performance. It’s time to get real about the constraints that uniquely affect public schools. What writers Jay Greene and Greg Forster refuse to admit is that public schools are the schools of last resort.
Walt Gardner
Los Angeles
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