Dist. 57's Standards Not High Enough

Dist. 57's standards not high enough

To the editor: The District 57 homepage states that "District 57 provides over 2,000 prekindergarten through eighth-graders in the area of Mount Prospect, Illinois, with the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to succeed."

But succeed against what standard? My wife and I have had to supplement greatly and occasionally undo some of D57's provisions with our kids. Our definition of success goes beyond memorization of facts, standardized test scores and a percent of completed homework. My career has taken me around the world and I've seen what our kids will be up against in India and Pacific regions.

My daughter will not be competing against your child as much as she will be competing against someone halfway across the world. Do you really think D57 will prepare your son or daughter with the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to succeed against someone from Japan or China?

We're talking about eliminating an art program and possibly increasing class size -- we should be discussing a complete overhaul. The truly distressing fact is that educated, motivated parents willing to …

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Publication information: Article title: Dist. 57's Standards Not High Enough. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL). Publication date: January 31, 2011. Page number: 4. © 2009 Paddock Publications. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

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