How to Fix America's Failing High Schools | WSJ Opinion

Political Diary editor Jason Riley on the announcement that American students are falling in international rankings. Photos: Getty Images

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[Snogwritts]

If you want to fix failing high schools, don’t fix the school, fix the SYSTEM.

[CountDookuful]

You fools I'm a kid I can tell you the issue is that Kids don't give a crap we don't want to be stuck in some class room being forced to learn non practical things

[Meltedchair]

YES!! GOD YES!! THERE IS ACTUALLY SOMEBODY OUT THERE WHO FINALLY UNDERSTANDS THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM! On a more constructive note though, maybe we should not construct standardized tests that endorse policies such as "teaching to the test".

[acsk.]

WE JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO BE AN ADULT (do taxes, mortgages, buy a home, etc.) NOT LEARNING USELESS CLASSES THAT WE WILL NEVER USE ( who is gonna use trigonometry or something like that) the classes we take are very job specific like our science classes and it’s unfair for kids who aren’t looking at those careers to still have to take them) also kill the test the way that we take test most of the time is we’re so dead from work we just kinda say eh I’ll work to pass the test not work to get my best score and the classes have to be more hands on because technology is some of the worst things to come into certain classrooms like in science most everything is online and we will barely ever use the beakers and stuff for experiments cause it’s all online

[microtechmachineshop]

i feel bad for todays youth a bunch of screwed up kids

[motoboy]

One fucking thing ITS SO FUCKING HARD.

[andreasantoni]

I say this:
- We adopt the Finnish method of public school education.
- We no longer allow state and federal politicians and their laws to meddle in public school education's affairs. (I.E. Repeal Dubya's "No child left behind" law for instance.)
- We cut out grade retentions altogether in order to reduce high school dropout rates.
- We allow any child access to a good quality education who wants it. A good quality education is a free gift for any child who accepts. (I.E. any child should be allowed to take algrbra in middle school and high school.)
- We repeal "Zero Tolerance" school policies and no longer treat kids like violent criminals for the most minor of transgressions. Instead, we police public school education's internal corruption.
- We cut out health class, abstinence only sex education, and anti-drug education and programmes. Health class is riddled with fallacies, including the ideas of "self esteem" and "social health". Abstinence only sex education only contributes to unwanted teen pregnancy rates. Anti-drug education and programmes such as DARE only contribute to teen alcoholism and drug addiction rats.
- We treat kids children and teenagers like intelligent human beings with passions and feelings. Children and teenagers are not brainless robots that society can bend to own will.
- We abolish the academic caste system. (I.E. better grades do not mean a better school life.)
- We abolish the academic honour system.
- We dismiss pop culture cliches about intellect vs. school performance. That means treating genius intelligence and impeccable school performance as two separate entities and dismissing pop culture's ideas on academics (I.E. The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, South Park, Azumanga Daioh, Baka and Test,