America's Failing Schools

> Maybe the most depressing thing is that the US isn’t even that bad... [the] US does better than many Western European countries like Denmark, Norway and Germany.

I'm not exactly sure what the writer's thesis is? They get stuck on a specific school in New Jersey for a while, but overall it doesn't seem like there's a huge cause for concern.

They also cite the increase in graduation rate in the entire U.S. as a cause for concern (i.e. grade inflation), but then narrow in on New Jersey's state-specific standardized tests as proof that students are not learning enough to graduate.

I'd disagree with a lot of the proposed solutions, as well. They recommend we "expand school days and the school year." However, my current understanding is that Montessori models, etc. are highly effective, and a lot of the European countries with fantastic educational outcomes emphasize less time in school. How we teach [and especially student's outside-of-school lives, though that's much harder to influence] seems like a much clearer avenue for improvement than just having them sit in the same desks for a couple thousand more hours overall.

Also, as a personal gripe, I found the whole educational system miserable enough as it was. I was already flirting with the idea of dropping out without adults expanding my already-unnecessarily-packed schedule.