To the Editor;

I agree with your editorial position (Aug. 12) that educating all students to meet standards is the proper goal for our K-12 public schools. And though the 95 % benchmark seems a bit high for right now, I can go along with it as a spur to greater heights. At the same time, I think our country needs a "No American Left Behind" law that would do the same for our lagging public and private institutions.

By 2014, our federal, state and local governments should be able to show that 100% of eligible voters vote, all drivers are safe and sober, all parents take good care of their children, and all people who own guns use them legally. In the private sector, businesses should provide evidence that 100% of their clients are receiving the goods and services promised and that their employees are getting a living wage and health insurance; newspapers, that their stories are 100% accurate, doctors and hospitals, that they are curing all patients; and religious leaders, that they are saving all souls.

What's that you say, "Those goals are not realistic. You can't force people to do what's right or what's in their best interest." Then I guess the only institutions we can count on to do their job are the public schools.

Sincerely yours,
Joanne Yatvin
5226 SW Northwood Ave.
Portland, OR 97239
503-245-3743
JYatvin@worldnet.att.net
Originally published in Education Week
http://educationweek.org/ew/ew_printstory.cfm?slug=33yatvin.h22