In article , Swingman wrote:
On 8/12/2011 9:08 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
In articleLMSdnWo2AuO5tNjTnZ2dnUVZ_vadnZ2d@giganews. com,
wrote:

In short, the educational system in this country was originally
instituted to provide an education ... it has now been subverted, mostly
by progressive machinations (union, etc.), to be _primarily_ concerned
with its own perpetuation in current form.

"If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the
mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed
it as an act of war." -- A Nation at Risk (April 1983)

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html


Great link!

And it has only gotten worse since then.

Damned shame that after almost 30 years nothing has been accomplished,
overall, to improve the situation.

As the parent of an Eagle Scout, IIRC, I'm sure you are painfully aware
of the situation and took the same kind of steps aforementioned.

You do recall correctly. I even have a bumper sticker on my car: "I'm proud of
my Eagle Scout".

And yes, we did. His older brother went to public school for the first two
years, and part of second grade -- after that, it was Catholic schools all the
way. AJ, the Eagle Scout, is attending a Catholic college too (his choice, but
obviously we're pleased).

The story of how and why we switched Ken (#1 son) from public to Catholic
school is ... well, the short version is that his second-grade teacher was
completely incompetent, and the school administration refused to do anything
about it -- assistant principal told my wife, when she requested they transfer
our son to a different classroom, that "if we did that, then every parent
would be asking for a transfer." Yeah, well, that oughta tell you something
about that teacher, ya think? So we transferred him right out of the whole
school district.

We were fortunate to be able to afford to do that, but seeing the results, the
sacrifice was worth it. Both boys wound up with very generous college
scholarships. Ken's in law school now.