According to Achieve, Inc., a group formed by State Governors to tackle educational issues, Washington ranks 39th in High School completion rate.

Furthermore, we rank 50th-that's right, dead last-at the percentage of students who make it into their 3rd year of college.

Data from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) shows that High School students in Washington have a 1 in 6 chance of graduating from college.

And as noted recently in the Seattle Times (Sept. 8), Washington SAT scores are the lowest they've been in 6 years.

How can this be? Ours is one of the "most educated" states, isn't it?

Perhaps. But remember that Washington employers recruit from colleges all over the country.

Many millions of dollars have been spent in Washington on "education reform."

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or "WASL," is the result of this effort. Has it been the answer its creators hoped it would be? Is the WASL the right tool to gauge the academic development of our secondary school students? Or is it just another way to get as many of our High Schoolers as possible through another standardized test? The News Tribune recently (Aug. 31) ran an excellent article exposing and exploring the flaws in the math WASL.

An independent study done by the State Board of Education concluded that the Washington test is poorly conceived and constructed. And that is being kind.

The fact is, our children are still being graduated without an adequate grasp of practical math and language skills.

Whenever you hear that "the numbers are up," take that claim with a rather large grain of salt.

Remember that Washington is currently experiencing a 25 to 30 percent High School drop-out rate. (Source: Achieve, Inc.)

And the folks who publish the statistics remove the drop-outs from the equation.

In other words, it's not 87.5 percent of our students who pass the reading and writing sections of the WASL, but 87.5 percent of those who are left. (Source: OSPI)

The actual percentage is more like 63 percent.

As for the math scores, the WA High School average is somewhere around 50 percent. Regardless of any "good news" you might have heard, WASL scores are slightly down from 2006.

We tend to think of drop-outs as those students who lack drive and ability.

Well, there is a consistent theme that comes across in interviews with these kids: "No challenge."

Are we being too soft on our children? The top-rated school systems in America and abroad introduce key mathematical concepts (fractions, percentages, etc.) at earlier grade levels. The children have shown that they can handle it.

If it's true that we are not providing our kids with the challenges they need, we are doing them a great disservice.

In the Sept. 1, 2007 edition of the Seattle P-I, there was a comic strip in which one fellow tells another that we're supposed to support our public schools-not criticize them.

"Pay your taxes and shut up," was the final message.

Some may think this is an unfair commentary on the state of education.

On the other hand, we can't afford not to give it the consideration it's due. In education, as in any other field, complacency equals failure. We can't condone it, and we can't allow it.

A truly effective educational system depends on a seamless interrelationship between the five integral parts: Students, Parents, Teachers, School Board Members, and Administrators.

A tall order indeed. But think about those links.

Each one feeds and is fed by the others. And as with any system, the ball gets dropped whenever a link is broken-whenever an action or decision is made without thought to the process as a whole.

As with any successful organization, responsibility and accountability starts at the top and flows down to all the parts. What we need from those at the top is clear: leadership and vision.

As is the case with most any organized system, the educational system needs accountability if it is to work as intended.

And as with any properly functioning system, objectives must be clear and measurable. So, what commitment should we expect from each of these five components? How can they be held accountable?

Certainly a new "contract" between the five parties is a start.

You'll recall the "13 Year Plan," required for all graduating students in this District. That was designed to be a part of the contract between the student, parent, and school demonstrating a commitment to fulfill the educational responsibility.

This was a tool for accountability.

But it can't stop with that one tool. There are other promises, for example, students can make that will demonstrate their commitment.

...Continued next week