When students move from school district to school district and from school to school, they encounter totally different curricula. No two classrooms, let alone two schools or two school districts, march to the same drummer.
The federal government or--at least--states should mandate when, what and how basic-skills curricula should be taught on any given day, week and month.
When Johnny moves from Podunk, Idaho to Numchuks, Ohio, he should be able to pick up where he left off in the basic skills at his new neighborhood school
This proposal violates "local control," of course. But what local control? States have increasingly provided most funding for local schools, effectively assuming real control through purse strings.
Parents have increasingly abdicated continuous relationships with schools, effectively letting other adults make crucial education decisions. Children therefore should be considered wards of the state for educational purposes.
Hey, if states can adopt universal building codes, why can't they do the same with basic skills? (5 DECEMBER 1999).
