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To the Editor_
Letter to Editor

Dear Editor,

When I graduated from high school in 1976, America was number one in the world in education. The state was responsible for education in the cultivation of the students. In 1976, the highest scores on the ACT and SAT were merited by hard working teachers and administration.  J.D Hendrixson and Aubry Turner (the Supervisor of School) had two employees. The teachers had no aids and taught on a blackboard while utilizing paper test.

The Clinton Administration in 1992 created The Department of Education because test scores began to falter in the late 80s and early 90s. The Federal Government began to pump billions of dollars and began to re-shape the policies of all schools across America. It has been a total disaster.

Presently, we are 40th in the world in education. Our students once the worlds brightest are now the dumbest in the advanced nations. We have, presently, a large administration building with many fine people working diligently to garner grants from an over bloated system that has forgotten test scores are the measurement of achievement but promotes social issues as the litmus test.

It seems that the state got a more favorable result. I remember lunch programs and other aids provided by the state but the onus was basically on the parents to provide the needed guidance for their child. I feel that our hard-working teachers and administrators need the government and the $200,000 a year administrator in Washington off their back and have the goal like Kansas for all students to have a 90 percent rate of proficiency in reading. 

Across America a score of 40 percent of children are reading on grade level.  The days of blaming Covid are over. Replace the grants with blackboards and timeout with the paddle.