98 percent of Virginia schools reach accreditation

Welshwoman - your cynicism is overwhelming, and your generalizations about the children and schools demonstrate that you are out of touch.  There are some students who, unfortunately, have to deal with situations in their homes that hinder their academic achievement.  The amazing stories are the ones who overcome these odds.  I have just moved to this area after having been an educator in an urban school district for more than a decade.  Working with students who CAN achieve despite their backgrounds and home environments is an honor - but society needs to have faith and do things to support these children, not lump them as failures due to things not within their control.  I suggest you volunteer to assist some of these students so that you can see the “good” that can come from an adult who takes an interest in them.

Hokie duke I hate to tell you this but they bring the teachers into conferences and teach them how to teach the children to cheat so they can pass the tests.  And when some of the teachers say this out loud they are ridiculed and the masses play denial games.  The fact is our children are less intelligent and more poorly educated than in the past.  If you want to live in a fantasy world be my guest but the percentage of behavior problems and magnitude of them speaks for itself.  When you don’t have 2 parents who married for love, have children out of love and team together to raise a healthy, happy child you get garbage which our country is now full of.  It includes all races and classes.  We are just far less moral, honest, decent, hard working and intelligent than we once were and until the liberal attitudes in this country change you will see no improvement.

This “Virginia Miracle” needs to be investigated.  Methinks, it will prove to be as illusory as the “Texas Miracle” was. I know teachers, administrators and parents across the Commonwealth who think that VDOE and their respective school districts are overidentifying children as having disabilities just so they can take a less rigorous test.

If this is really true, then why aren’t SAT scores increasing, why are fewer students receiving advanced diplomas?  Why do children with disabilities have a 32 percent graduation rate?  Why are so many African-American children continue to be labeled “special education”?

The government has the majority of the population fooled with the help of the liberal media because lowering the grading scale to making a 60 a D is the only reason the accrediation rate is rising!  If the grading scale would be what is was in the 70’s and 80’s ONLY 10 percent of the schools would qualify if that many!  The saddest fact about this is the billions of dollars spent on pre-school, head start, free lunches….NOW FREE breakfasts….PRETTY SOON EACH TEACHER WILL HAVE TO TAKE HOME A STUDENT TO RAISE!  Face it, it is not the teachers it is THE “MOTHERS” and other so-called family members contributing to the downfall of the school system!  Most children need more than a free meal in their stomachs to achieve in the environment in which they are born into!