Students more ignorant than ever

America’s education system is more dysfunctional than ever, judging from a report issued last week by the College Board.

sat scores for reading for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record. Meanwhile, the combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point in over 15 years.

According to the authors, only one other time in the past two decades have reading scores dropped so precipitously.

Yet, according to education officials, the public shouldn’t be worried. The results just “reflect” the fact that more students and a greater diversity of students took the test this past year.

What?

Apparently, not only are students more ignorant than ever, but their teachers are too. What the test really shows is that students are worse off than officials want to admit. A larger number of test takers would indicate a better survey of the general aptitude of high school graduates. Thus these results better reflect the state of education in America.

What is really shocking is that the plummeting test scores come after skyrocketing education spending, as highlighted by cnn:

The 2011 budget for the Department of Education is estimated to top $70 billion, while overall spending on public elementary and secondary education is about $600 billion a year. By comparison, in 1972, before the Department of Education even existed, sat critical reading scores for college-bound seniors were above 525, more than 20 points higher than they are today, while today’s math scores are only slightly better than in 1972.

As scandalous as students’ scores dropping while education spending is soaring is, it is even more so when you consider that sat tests have been drastically dumbed down over time so that colleges could expand enrollment and meet diversity quotas. Today’s sat test is not the test of 1972.

Herbert W. Armstrong once said, “The future welfare and even the existence of civilization is dependent on the educational system” (Plain Truth, December 1965).

If America were to survive, never mind thrive, its education system would need a complete overhaul.

It would have to start by eliminating corrupt, politician-purchasing teachers’ unions. The whole education department, including the teachers and their former union agitators, would have to then focus on their jobs—educating students.

Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen.

And many other things need to change too.

Read Stephen Flurry’s booklet Education With Vision to learn the real solutions to America’s education problem. And check out the Herbert W. Armstrong College website and the history behind the name of the college.