Letter to the editor
Dear Editor,
Much has been made of the academic achievement gap and below expected performance, among U.S. students when compared to the rest of the world. Of 80 developed countries in the PISA international survey, overall US students ranked above average in reading and science, and below average in math. Tennessee has made considerable progress and is now in the top half compared to other states in reading and math. That said, Tennessee still has lots of opportunities for improvement, particularly in rural areas. Fortunately, Farragut is well above average, ranking 9th among 376 public high schools in Tennessee. There have been various solutions proposed to reduce any gap and/or push U.S. and local students to better performance. Some suggest charter or private schools, or that higher pay and better facilities would attract better teachers and encourage better students. All this likely has a place, but I would suggest one more action that doesn’t require more money, and that is, setting high standards and expectations. As George Bush observed, there is a soft bigotry in low expectations.
