Education Secretary Arne Duncan feels that “we’re lying to our children” when we accept low student achievement standards, a policy that sees many states promoting children to the next grade despite being inept at reading and math. Also, Santa isn’t real. — JCL

The Associated Press:

Many states set achievement standards so low that they can say their students are reading and doing math at their grade level when they haven’t truly mastered the subjects, the Education Department asserted Thursday.

The Obama administration said the report bolsters its effort to persuade all states to adopt the same set of tougher standards for what students should know.

“States are setting the bar too low,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. “We’re lying to our children when we tell them they’re proficient, but they’re not achieving at a level that will prepare them for success once they graduate.”

The federal government can’t impose a set of standards, because education is largely up to states.

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