Jersey Jazzman noticed that the proportion of students rated as proficient by New York’s State Education Department is very nearly identical to the proportion in the population of the state with a four-year degree.
It occurs to him that the phrase “college and career ready” is phony. It really means “ready for a four-year college degree.”
Should students be failed unless they are ready to get a four-year bachelor’s degree?
This is nuts.
Many good jobs do not require a four-year college degree.
Some graduates with a four-year degree are waiting on tables or selling Apple products for $12 an hour.
Why should New York state penalize students who will be doing important work for society and earning a good living as plumbers, electricians, construction workers, and other careers?
He observes: “…this is all about making the public education system look as bad as possible, so privatizers can move in and teachers unions can lose power. It’s a political agenda; it has nothing to do with education. “College and career ready,” like “achievement gap” and “x months of learning,” is a useless, phony phrase designed to set the parameters of the debate in a way that favors those who would blame our country’s serious problems almost exclusively on our public schools. Be on your guard whenever you hear it used – you’re probably being conned. “
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yeah, I am thinking … What do these reformers want to do with the kids who “fail”?
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Excellent question. Hmm. They wouldn’t privatize the prison system, would they?
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Our ‘wonderful’ Ohio governor talked about it when he first took office.
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They already privatized government.
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I had commented once before about some research performed by Dr. James Stone of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education at the Univeristy of Louisville.
He said that approximately 28% of all professions actually require a 4-year degree. That statistic has always resonated with me with the push towards “college and career readiness” with the REAL emphasis on a 4-year degree. This is so unrealistic.
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quote: “There are relatively few studies relating test scores to later life outcomes. Currie and Thomas (2001) find that a one standard deviation increase in reading scores at age seven is associated with an 8.0 percent increase in wages at 33, and a one standard deviation increase in math scores is associated with 7.8 percent higher wages. ”
There are too many intervening variables on the child’s developmental trajectory to predict. Also, this study by Currie and Thomas used tests that were valid and reliable; there is no Technical Manual on CC curriculum/tests that indicate the reliability and validity.
We can say that there is no predictive validtiy to the tests so therefore it is like buying and selling wheat futures; a risky market.
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You need to get together with Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs”. He has an article in the September issue of Popular Mechanics on this issue. I have also seen him on a recent talk show discussing this- maybe Bill Maher?. Those who truly know are starting to speak. Thanks Mike! I hope other celebrities join him.
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Go here to learn about Mike Rowe’s program: http://profoundlydisconnected.com
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It must not be forgotten that we have a lively privatized prison industry that must be fed.
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In Ohio, the privatized prisons have cut back on services. I guess the “owners” must make a profit. They have changed the meals, changed the security, changed the authority. Yeh, Ohio, let’s privatize everything and see how much better PERSONAL gain is for the public than shared security.
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