High school graduates not proficient

Report from PA Partnerships for Children reveals that 45% of Pennsylvania high school graduates last year did not pass the 11th grade PSSA (on the first or 2nd try). All students have to pass a "local assesment" equivalent to graduate, but it would seem that the local assessment was not the equivalent of the PSSA.

They propose tying a state standardized test to graduation, but high stakes testing is only a yardstick, it won't fix public education. (Suprisingly, PA Partnerships for Children doesn't use this report to further their agenda of putting public schools in charge preschoolers, though that would be counterintuitive, given the finding that students fall behind the longer they spend in public schools)

We have pointed out the lack of performance of public schools often, but believe we need to change the incentives in education in order to get results. When parents have real choices in education, and schools have to meet the performance demands of students and their families, only then will get the education system we need.