EDITORIAL: EDUCATION

Mar 13, 2010 — Richmond Times-Dispatch

Mar. 13, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Educators empaneled by America's governors have proposed a uniform set of educational standards for the nation. This seems like a fine idea, except for the ways that it is not.

Uniform standards would make it easier to compare student performance across state lines. Using a common yardstick is preferable to having everyone invent his own ruler. But it is not clear that such a comparison would do wonders to improve educational performance, since it's a little like comparing how food in a McDonald's in California measures up to the food in a McDonald's on the East Coast. It might help you improve the quality of Big Macs -- but it doesn't answer the question as to whether there's a better way to eat altogether.

That's a question the U.S. should be asking itself in light of research showing that Americans are slipping behind the rest of the world. Canadian 15-year-olds, for instance, are on average more than an entire grade level ahead of their American counterparts.

Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind, the uniform-standards initiative -- time and again the U.S. has resolved to make its public schools better. But a world-class Big Mac is still a Big Mac.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0177-42857290