To the Editor:
I just read an article on 247wallst.com, a news and opinion website, about America’s worst schools, which was based on information from Education Week‘s Quality Counts (Jan. 10, 2013).
I must tell you your data are askew because part of your analysis is based on graduation rates.
In my opinion as a taxpayer and a parent, Virginia has undoubtedly the worst public schools in the country. The only way you can’t graduate is to drop out, thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act. Virginia will pass you even if you don’t do anything in class.
Virginia uses the state Standards of Learning, or SOLS, to determine a person’s knowledge. Therefore, rather than “teach,” the teachers focus only on helping students to pass the SOLS. Anyone can be taught to pass a test and still be dumb as a box of rocks.
Damon Hill
Martinsville, Va.
