NATIONAL SCORES

TENNESSEE SCORES

4th Grade Reading  

8th Grade Reading

4th Grade Reading

8th Grade Reading

4th Grade Math

8th Grade Math 

4th Grade Math

8th Grade Math 

Only 70% of Tennessee elementary schools are accredited by the Southern Association of College and Schools. This means that 30% of the public elementary schools have failed to meet this certification, which is based on student performance. As of the 2003-2004 school year, Memphis had 40 schools that had failed to improve even though they are in their 3rd and 4th years of probation.  Imagine if  your child forced to attend one of these schools. Your child would have to go though almost all of elementary school before their school was finally forced to perform at even a minimum standard.  How much time would parents give a private school to improve?  It would be days not years. That is the difference with vouchers.  Parents are not forced to put with up this stupidity.

The education professionals were warned in 1973  they were failing in their job.  They responded with cries of needing more money (which was doubled) and the need for lower teacher pupil ratios (which they also received).  What are the results 35 years later?

• Math scores for 17-year olds: up 3 points on a scale to 500

• Math scores for 13-year olds: up 25 points on a scale to 500

• Math scores for 9-year olds: up 22 points on a scale to 500

• Reading scores for 17-year olds: UNCHANGED

• Reading scores for 13-year olds: up 4 points on a scale to 500

• Reading scores for 9-year olds: up 9 points on a scale to 500

How well do American students do in international tests?

• 8th grade American students ranked 19 out of 38 countries in math

• 8th grade American students ranked 18 out of 38 countries in science

• 12th grade American students ranked 19 out of 21countries in math and science

The trend, believe it or not,  is that the longer a student stays in a public school the worse they perform academically.  We can clearly see from these statistics that the "experts" in the public school system have failed miserably in their jobs.

I am a believer in private schools. I spend $3500 a year to make sure my son obtains a great education. I plan on sending my daughter to the same school as well. That will amount to $7000 a year. I could be spending that money on a new car or a bigger house. This $7000 is only $865 more than the state pays to educate one child. Lets compare the performance of the public schools in Tennessee to how well a private school performs. Over one-half of Tennesseans fall into the second lowest rate of literacy. Almost one-half of the people in Grundy County do not have a high school diploma or GED.   My son tested two grades above his current grade level on his achievement  test scores. Some students in his school tested almost four grades levels above their present grade. I also went to a private school in the seventh grade. I went from a fourth to fifth grade level to a tenth to twelfth grade level in just one year. In fact, I passed the test to receive my diploma in the 8th grade. I do not believe that it is fair that I have to pay to money out of my own pocket to make sure that my son gets a real education.

In a study of home schoolers, it was shown that students who were home schooled all of their school years tested thirty to thirty-seven percentile points higher in all subjects. Their highest academic achievement was seen in the later high school years. This is the opposite result of public school in which students scores drop the longer that they attend. Further results showed that minority status did not matter. It is also of interest that the parents education level (either with a high school diploma or college degree) did not have an impact on test scores. Of greater interest is the fact that these parents did not have a license or a certificate to teach.

School choice clearly works and is the answer to the education problems in Tennessee. I believe that the reason politicians will not allow vouchers is due to either ignorance of the issue or the potential loss of campaign money. Of the top 5000 donors to the Democratic Party, those that ranked number sixth and seventh were the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. No democrat would be willing to do anything to make these unions upset. Most teachers, however, do not agree with the stands that these unions are making. Teachers want to teach and we should give them the freedom to do so. We should also be able to fire teachers who are incompetent; however the union has made this nearly impossible because of tenure.

There is a teacher shortage, but I believe that it has been artificially created by the Unions in order to keep the demand  high. To demonstrate this, please read my article Solutions to the Teacher Shortage. I recount how nearly impossible it was for me to go into the field of teaching trying to follow the present certification and licensing process. 

What does the future hold for the United States if we do not educate our children? Businesses such as Intel, Microsoft, and General Electric, to name a few, will begin moving their factories overseas due to the shortage of engineers and scientists. Once these companies move, they may never come back. A quote from Howard High, a spokesperson for Intel says it best, "We go where the smart people are." He also stated that in the next ten years, only one third of Intel's manufacturing will be in the United States. This was due in large part to the lack of qualified people to hire.

Only 42% of people who start college will graduate in Tennessee.  This is due, I believe in large part, to the poor preparation by our public schools. When I started college, I attended a two year college and was evaluated on my skill levels. I had to take several remedial courses and I believe that this greatly improved my chance of success. At a four year school, the classes are larger and new students that are behind academically have a difficult time succeeding. We should examine having students who are behind academically attend a small community college and then transfer to a four year institution when they are better prepared.

Governor Bredesen has committed more than half a billion dollars into education. He also wants to set a goal of a 55% graduation rate for college students and a 90% graduation rate for high school students by the year 2012. That is giving the public schools another six years to try to figure it out. Tennessee cannot wait another day much less six more years.

I recommend giving a $3500 voucher to any parent that wants one. Parents know what is best for their children, not the bureaucrats. If a parent wants their child to be home schooled or to attend a public or private school it should be the parent's choice. 

REFERENCES:

1 Public School Graduation Rates in the United States. Civic Report #31. Manhattan Institute.
2 National Center for Education Statistics, State Profiles.
3 The Center for Education Reform. 2005 State by State National Assessment of Educational Progress.
4 Statewide Report Card 2004, Part 1 State Profile, State of Tennessee
5 No Child Left Behind Annual Report to Congress 2005, Appendix B, ED.gov
6 Long Term Trend, The Nation=s Report Card, National Center for Education Statistics
7 Issues in Brief, K-12, The Heritage Foundation.
8 Teaching Tennessee Adults, Comptroller Of The Treasury, State of Tennessee
9 Academic Statistics on Home Schooling. Home Schooling Legal Defense Association.
10 Who Speaks for the Teachers, by Hana Skandera and Richard Souga. The Hoover Institute.
11 Americas Brain Drain, by Kathryn Wallace, Reader Digest; Dec. 2005.
12 Governor Bredesen Unveils Vision for Healthcare, Education in 2006 State of the State, 02/07/06, http://www.tennessee.gov

To download a printer friendly version of this page click here.