In this column, Charlotte Observer columnist Fannie Flono makes the following claim:
One key difference between the United States and some high-performing countries is this: The U.S. aims to educate all children. We don’t leave or push some out of school, based on their pedigree or interest level. We aim to help every child reach his or her potential. Carney says that’s the challenge: ?To achieve both equity and excellence.?
All high-achieving (and, for that matter, most low-achieving) countries aim to educate all children and help every child reach his or her potential. It is in their economic best interest to do so.
According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) figures, enrollment rates for 15-to-19-year-olds increased on average from 74 to 81% from 1995 to 2006. In fact, enrollment rates for 15-to-19-year-olds in the United States is on the lower end of OECD countries, probably due to relatively high dropout rates. In Korea, 86 percent of 15-to-19-year-olds were enrolled in school, compared to 78 percent in the United States.
The difference is that other nations know that not all children should receive the same kind of education. While most secondary school students in the U.S. are enrolled in a general course of study, other nations give students a variety of choices, including vocational and work-study options. This is not an attempt to “push some out of school” but rather to “aim to help each child reach his or her potential.” Since when did helping “each child” mean giving all of them the exact same thing?
