I know, I know I promised I would steer clear of politics while writing this weekly blog, but I just can’t help myself.

You can’t make stuff like this up.

Here is the latest out of the state of Oregon:

“For the next five years, an Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level.

Gov. Kate Brown had demurred earlier this summer regarding whether she supported the plan passed by the Oregon Legislature to drop the requirement that students demonstrate they have achieved those essential skills. But on July 14, the governor signed Senate Bill 744 into law”.

Charles Boyle, the governor’s deputy communications director, said the governor’s staff notified legislative staff the same day the governor signed the bill.

Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”

So, what these folks are saying is that for the next 5 years, you will be allowed to walk across a stage in front of a lot of people and handed a piece of paper that means absolutely nothing.

This state thinks this will “benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”?

These youngsters are being turned out in a world where they cannot read or understand a menu at a McDonalds, much less know how to make change from a $3.47 purchase. This is progress?

No, this is a form of societal slavery. That’s what this is.

Instead of being helped to understand how to read and write and be proficient in math, they are being sidelined into a lifetime of poverty and dependency on the social services of the state and federal governments.

What the state is saying in the matter is that these kids are basically incapable of learning, so let’s just pass them out of the system and move on to other matters.

We should not be worried if they resort to crime or drugs. Hey, they graduated from high school so it can’t be our fault, can it?

Since the beginning of this country, education has been one of the cornerstones of our society.

In old days, ‘McGuffy’s Reader’ was used to teach children to learn to read. Then came ‘Dick and Jane’ and others like them. But children were taught and tested to see how they were progressing and yes, if they failed then they should have been given extra attention to bring them up to speed and able to compete in the world market.

How can these people live with themselves knowing they are part of the reason a large majority of their high school graduates are about to find themselves ‘unemployable’ if they can’t read policy manuals or instructions?

You can argue all day long that 2+2 can equal whatever you want it to be, but I guarantee you the guy selling you something in China or India knows full well that 2+2=4. If you don’t, then heaven help you, my friend.

So instead of looking at why so many ‘students of color’ are failing and trying to fix the problem or find a solution. We’ll push it aside while we ‘study’ the matter. Let’s hire some expensive consultants to ‘advise’ us how we can solve this problem. It might only take us 2-3 years to examine it, and then another 2-3 years to debate the proper solutions and then another 2-3 years in implementing a plan, but what the heck, it’s just kids we’re talking about, isn’t it?

No harm, no foul.

I find that attitude to be disgraceful and despicable.

Shame on these people, they should be taken out of office and replaced with folks who can see the problem and look for ways to improve it, not push it further down the road.

Do you think they have ever thought about what the costs of increased crime, drug addiction, social issues, welfare costs will be as a result of this decision?

I bet not, I bet they don’t care.

If they did, the situation would not exist in the first place.

See you next week….

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