A Nation At Risk (1983)

This report came out just before I began middle school and it seemed to throw the country in a tizzy. Essentially it said "we're failing our children by not giving them the opportunity to succeed in a modern world economy". Yet, it seemed to have been interpreted by my elders as "the kids today just aren't as studious and bright as we were".


While it would be unfair to say all my teachers sucked, I remember many I had were bored housewives that had priorities that extended past me getting educated. Those that loved the profession were SHOUTING to increase their pay so that they may afford to remain teaching. Overall not much seemed to get done after 'A Nation at Risk' was published. Teachers' salaries caused the most qualified to seek a different profession and small budgets had us students learning from out of date books and programs like Music, Art and P.E. fell off the map (speaking of maps- the ones I had in middle-high school were way old with many countries no longer existing or new ones having sprung up). And the 'wise elders' continued to point their fingers at us 'dum' kids.