If you can read this...

We take many things for granted in this country, one of them being the ability to read and write. We got a sad reminder this morning that even in this day and age that is an ability not every American has.

At the Wal-Mart distribution center in Sparks, NV, Lori met a fellow truck driver (from another large national carrier) that asked if she knew how to fill out a ComCheck. She said sure, you do it just like a regular bank check; write in the date, name of the person to be paid, the amount in numbers and words, etc. It was when he asked her if she would do it for him that she realized he didn’t know how to write.

She said sure and helped him out, not wanting to embarrass him any further than what he must have already been. As she and Mike thought more about it, they felt sad, confused, and angry wondering how and why this could be. Here was a middle-aged American man that wasn’t able to perform a simple task that we – mistakenly – assumed somebody in his position could do.

We felt bad for him having to swallow his pride and ask someone for this kind of help. We can’t even imagine how embarrassing that must be. Then there was a bit of confusion as to how he even got a commercial truck driving license. He has obviously figured out how to work successfully in a profession that requires a certain level of literacy; that’s a huge accomplishment in itself.

Not knowing his situation, we can’t say for sure why he was illiterate. (Lori found out he had trouble reading when he came back to ask for help matching up his order number with some other paperwork.) He didn’t have any obvious physical or mental disabilities and he appeared intelligent enough.

That’s when the anger and frustration began to set in. While his particular situation could have resulted from personal choices or issues, we couldn’t help but recognize that every year millions of children pass through America’s schools without receiving a quality education that prepares them to succeed in life. Policies such as “social promotion” and the ever-lowering of student expectations (often as a method to build self-esteem) are hurting rather than helping.

We don’t pretend to have the answers. But we do not believe that throwing money at the problem – especially federal dollars – will fix it. Today, the average student in American public schools can expect more than $9,200 to be spent on his or her behalf this year by taxpayers – a real increase of 69 percent over 1980.

Yet this additional spending hasn't meaningfully changed student outcomes. Many of the same problems highlighted by "A Nation at Risk", a report released 25 years ago by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, remain today. For example, one in three fourth-graders scores "below basic" in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Among low-income students, only half passed the reading test. A recent study found that more than 1 million children drop out of school each year. In some of our biggest cities, less than half of all students earn a high-school diploma. In Detroit, only one in four students graduate. This is simply unacceptable because of the financial and social impacts on individuals, communities, and our nation.

What’s really frustrating about this is that we know there are committed, well-intentioned people out there wanting to educate our children. Our uncle has been a teacher and school administrator for many years, and two of our daughters are beginning their careers as teachers. Unfortunately, they are restricted by a system that is failing us and needs to be renovated.

The basics of what we believe needs to be done are simple: increased responsibility and accountability expected of teachers and students; allowing parents more say in how their children will be educated, and; less federal (none?) and more local control of schools.