If the shoe fits

To the editor: Some school districts actually perform up to expectations. The New York Times reported on November 14th that Massachusetts schools, for example, would rank fourth if scored with the top 45 countries and aggregated with our fifty states. Even as our highest-ranking state, however, Massachusetts is still 22 points behind Singapore, which is first in Mathematics and Science. As for the rest of us, perhaps The Economist (Dec. 8) put it best: “There is bad news for the United States: average performance was poor by world standards. Its schools serve strong students only moderately well, and do downright poorly with the large numbers of weak students. A quarter of 15-year-olds do not even reach basic levels of scientific competence.” Sound familiar? If the shoe fits, I suppose we must wear it. Unless, of course, we are willing to change something. Tony Splendora Milford