Larry Demers wrote:

I find it interesting that Florida has now made the 12th grade
"Optional". This seems to be an effort to dumb down our kids even further,
don't you think? So who do you blame for this??

Dept of Education under Carter decided that the goal of the education
system should be to provide graduates the tool and skills to become
successful adults; so they funded a study to find out what successful
people had in common. The trouble began when the study came up empty
handed. Einstein wasn't a great financier, Trump didn't excell in
mathmatics, neither one excelled at sports or acting; and so on. The
only thing successful people had in common was high self esteem. Now it
may seem obvious to you and I that self esteem derives from success, not
vice versa, but having spent all that $$$ the pointy-headed researchers
had to provide *some* answer. Thus instilling high self esteem replaced
teaching as the goal of American education. Sammy'd rather play than
learn to read? Don't criticize him, it might hurt his self esteem. Is
the course material too demanding for the worst student? Make it easier.
Kids aren't learning anything? Doesn't matter, as long as they feel good
about themselves. So now we have a generation of ignorami who think they
know it all; and why not? That's all they've been taught.

What happens when they transfer to an old fashioned school? Well, the
jocks diss them cuz they're poor athletes, the nerds diss them cuz
they're poor scholors, and so on, even tho *they* know they're great.
After all that's what they've been told all their lives. It must be an
evil plot! Kill them all! And you have the Columbine massacre. Ooops,
sorry, I forgot. That's not PC and might even hurt somebody's self
esteem! Better blame guns or some other inanimate object.