One-size-fits-all doesn't fit education

It is frustrating at best to watch Montanans doing their level best to honor their constitutional commitment to provide a "quality education" when it becomes less and less clear what that means.

Yet another example of that appeared recently in a report by a group called the Education Trust, which calls itself an advocacy organization for poor and minority students.

The Trust reviewed the 2002-03 graduation rates that states provided - and found a general pattern of misreporting by the states, leading to exaggerated numbers for on-time graduation almost across the board.

It seems that the majority of states - 36 of them - say 80 percent to 97 percent of their high school students graduate on time, but according to the independent analysis sponsored by the Education Trust, the number is closer to 70 percent.

What that means is that the states are all using their own definition of on-time graduation, and the numbers don't match. New Mexico, for instance, was just measuring the success of its senior class in achieving graduation by the end of the year. It ignored students who had dropped out in the freshman, sophomore and junior years.

Other states eliminated dropouts from the equation altogether, simply measuring how many of the seniors who actually graduated had done so in four years or less.

The Educational Trust plainly intends us to be outraged by this charade, but we are more outraged by the notion - advanced by the president's No Child Left Behind boondoggle - that schools can somehow prevent marginal students from dropping out altogether through legislation.

Yes, we should have some kind of honest benchmark to compare such things as on-time graduation rate or performance on certain kinds of tests, but we should not try to use those benchmarks as a club to force one-size-fits-all uniformity on all school districts, all states, or even all students, as some well-meaning liberal educators and politicians seem intent to do.

Merely throwing more money and more mandates at schools doesn't necessarily lead to a better education for our students.

Yes, accountability is important. Legislators and taxpayers ought to hold educators responsible for doing a reasonable job of providing educational opportunities for all our youngsters.

There should be standards to be met and consequences if education comes up short.

But lawmakers should not try to repeal the "bell curve" in an effort to convince voters that all their children can make the honor society.

We do not live in Garrison Keillor's mythical Lake Wobegon, "where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Let us keep our feet on the ground as we strive to better ourselves, and not be buffeted in the winds of change as politicians, think tanks and interest groups try to convince us we are not doing enough.

If we remain loyal to our children, we will always try to do the best for them.