From: George Weinbaum [e-mail him] 

Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, wrote in the 6 September WSJ, "How to Stop the Drop in American Education"

 "In fact, after more than 30 years in the energy industry, and now as I work with business leaders from every sector of the American economy, I can attest that your high-school math teacher was right: Algebra matters. ... Even more concerning, many of these educational shortfalls are apparent before students reach high school. According to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Process [sic], only 35% of eighth graders performed at grade level or above in math. ... We have an opportunity to reverse this trend but it will take setting the right priorities. That starts with establishing high standards".

Tommyrot. Yes, we need to set "the right priorities". What might they be if we raise standards and most black and Hispanic kids do not meet them? Might we end immigration from the Third World and discourage persons receiving EBT, Section 8 housing vouchers, etc., from having kids?

Who does Tillerson think he’s kidding? We have spent trillions over the last, say, 48 years on poverty wars and such. So?

Tillerson even refers to Finland as having an "effective education system". Hmm. Is it because Finland is full of Finns? Tillerson notes "U.S. students rank 14th in the world in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math—and the trend line is moving in the wrong direction". Is this largely the result of demographic changes? I suspect our education system is not doing so badly. Are "Hispanic" kids in the U.S. doing better than say Mexicans in Mexico? Are U.S. black kids doing better than, say blacks, in Nigeria? 

Enough.

See previous letters from George Weinbaum.

See also tonight's article “Simpson’s Paradox”? New “Fix-The-Schools” Book Fails To Address Immigration