Stop limiting our students

The need for teachers is hardwired into our DNA and civilization depends on knowledge. But employers say workers can’t read. Colleges complain that students spend a year catching up. Tests show that schools are no longer graduating educated people. And schools present more opportunities to segregate by race and economic class that any other institution in this country except prisons.

Students who do not require remedial education in college are those who passed Advanced Placement classes. The reason the rest of the kids are still in school even though they can’t pass the hard classes is simple, in my opinion—money. Schools get federal dollars for every student in school each day. School administrations cannot afford to fail anyone. If students knew they would fail if they didn’t do the work, high schools would be filled with diversity—smart diversity.

Go ahead and build new schools. Some skills require a place to practice and hands-on teaching. Labs and libraries, plays and science fairs all need a venue. But classrooms with walls are now part of history.

Our civilization must divest itself of the last hindrance to true equality, institutional-based education. Schools must change now or they won’t be getting any money because the students have already discovered that they really don’t need to be there. We cannot warehouse education any longer. We must give each student the opportunity to succeed, not a building that holds them in place. TAMARA KELLEY

North Little Rock