Maybe We Shouldn't Be Bragging

In Saturday's Editorial piece there was some bragging going on.

The Southern Regional Education Board has issued a report showing 26 percent of the kids in Southern schools took at least one Advanced Placement exam last year.
Only 26 percent. That bad, huh ? Actually, it’s two percentage points higher than the national average.

We are all so happy that Arkansas is doing so well. Hey, our kids here in Arkansas are smart!

To quote a darn-near giddy Ken James, the state’s education commissioner / czar / can-do guy: "I am thrilled with this news because it means that when students reach the state’s expectations for proficiency... they are in a prime position to compete with students from anywhere in the United States for college placement and well-paying jobs."

However, in the same newspaper edition we have another educational story. It's about 9.5 millions students in China taking a 2-day test and the efforts and sacrifices parents and students make to score high on that test.

Education is unrivaled in importance in China, and the two-day test that ended Friday is one of the few events that can bring the country to a standstill. Cities ordered drivers not to blow their horns, construction sites were shut down, streets near test sites were closed, and flight paths were altered — lest the noise disturb test-takers.

When you compare the two educational systems Arkansas has nothing to brag about. The American students are woefully behind their counterparts in China. Chinese students know how to work hard and sacrifice to get that quality education.

Li Yukun gripped a bouquet of pink roses, a gift for her 18-year-old daughter who has been tutored every weekend since middle school. "These 12 years have been so hard. These roses are to show her that I care. It’s been so hard for her, not one day of rest," the mother said.

Instead of getting Arkansas students ready to compete with students from anywhere in the United States, we need to be getting American students ready to compete with the Chinese students. However, I fear that parents, teachers, school administrators and legislators are content with how things stand now and are not willing to make the sacrifices needed to make our students capable of competing globally.