Johnny still can't read . . . but he's no longer a failure!

Obama says that George Bush's "No Child Left Behind" needs work. I'm not sure the plan, itself, does need work, but the way it has been implemented certainly does.

At any rate, about 80% of the nation's schools don't measure up. Their reading and math proficiency scores are in the tank. Obama says, "We know that four out of five schools in this country aren't failing. So what we're doing to measure success and failure is out of line."

What makes Obama think the figures are wrong? I see evidence every day that our students can't read, write, or even count back change. So Obama is addressing this issue like he does every other -- we'll just make the numbers say what we want them to say.

If a school currently has to have a 90% passing rate to be acceptable, we'll just lower that to 60%. All the little Johnnys still won't be able to read, but our numbers sure will look good!

"Obama: Rewrite No Child Left Behind." The Dallas Morning News; March 15, 2011; p. 7A.