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That is quite sad. I think when potential isn't recognized, that does a disservice to a child. I was surprised that the Valedictorian only took 2 courses of math. In my school, we were required to take mathematics all 4 years if we wanted to graduate with a college prep.
It makes me wonder what life would have been like for me if I had gone to a private school or high school in a better school district. What you mentioned with your son's classmates is what has happened to alot of kids in my graduating class. All I needed to do was look through facebook to find out. A very popular cheerleader from my high school(in my graduating class) is 26 years old, dropped out of college, and has 3 kids. I went to college, battled issues like depression, and eventually graduated from college. Now I'm struggling to find a good job, and I'm living with my parents. Sometimes I wonder if whatever happened in high school might have contributed to my struggles in college.
I was often told in school how bright I was, just as your son was. And this was in middle school. However, it seemed like there wasn't much for the bright kids. I know of some kids who were very bright, but ended up settling for less. The school system I went to had similar issues. Alot of the brightest kids who didn't get caught up eventually left the county, and haven't returned. There isn't really anything left to return to for those who weren't satisfied.
Bright doesn't often translate to job success in this brutal economy. Sorry. Hang in there.
green-mariner... congrats on the degree.. and I think you have hit upon the #1 issue. A lot of our brightest go unnoticed. Once again, I can use my son's high school as an example. An exceptional, and I mean EXCEPTIONAL young man was in my son's same class. The young man had never gotten any grade other than an A up till his sophomore year. It was during this year that he petitioned the school board to either let him graduate so he could start college or let him take the GED test so he could move on. They denied his request. He didn't have enough "credits". He dropped out of school, and last I knew had gotten involved in the construction industry never having gone back. Found out later they didn't want to set a precedent because they knew that it would only be a few days later that my son would have done the same thing.
Have you ever thought about going back for a graduate degree? Your location in Georgia gives you a lot of different options. Ga Tech, Ga State, Emory, all have very well known graduate programs. Granted the stipends are not great, but they are livable enough, and in the sciences anyway they all usually include full-tuition and health-insurance benefits. You might find now that upper-level suits you. I know the older my son has gotten the more he is seeing how his education is going to benefit him. Granted; he hasn't been out in the job market yet, he and his PI are discussing his options now, so the end results remain to be seen, but we are hopeful that he will find exactly what he is looking for. Best of luck to you!!! I'm sure you will do well.
Thank you. I think the best thing that could be done for our schools is to look very close at the kids who are bright. My own high school was similar. I remember my father telling me that it was possible to graduate from high school early if I took an extra course in summer school. I found out my high school wouldn't let me do that. There was no way to graduate early, as far as I knew. It is kind of sad such a bright mind had such a fate. He was disregarded and in a way, it hurt him. This is symptomatic of what some of our schools have come to. To this day, my father regrets moving to where we did. He came from the inner city, went to school in the inner city. He went to what was supposedly the worst school in his city, and he had better teachers and got more out of school than I ever did. And he went to high school during the Nixon administration.
To be honest, I never considered graduate school until the last 2 weeks. I felt so burned out by school that when I graduated, I look at things from a perspective of "I need a job, I need work, no more school". Now I'm considering it. I'm still looking for work because I gained skills in cartography, and I need a place for it. I'm thinking about going into the geosciences, and I have looked at Georgia State.
Here's something that will shock most people here. This isn't because of religion or conservatism like most people here will say. It's because inner city school perform so poorly. Inner cities are usually heavily populated by minorities and Democrats. The best schools are in suburban areas which usually trend conservative. How do you explain that liberals?
LOL...didn't take long for a Conservative to come up with the "blame it on the darkies" excuse.
Inner city residents are American citizens. If they're dragging down the scores, then it behooves us to find a way to FIX IT! And how does a school "trend Conservative?" What does that mean?
BTW...plenty of suburban schools are total crap too. Even private religious and prep schools are falling off. Of course, it's not the schools, but the students that's the real problem.
They value academic achievement over social justice. They know that everyone is not a winner just for showing up.
I see it as well. I saw it when I was in college back in the 80's. First 2 years of college was diverse.
Then in 3rd year you picked your major. I went computer science in college of engineering.
And even back then it was mostly Indian and Asian students. And I enjoyed those 2 years..it was hard and challenging. One could not coast those classes to a degree.
As long as government stays out of the colleges we'll continue to attract those types of students.
K-12 is already ruined by them.
What in the hell does that even mean? That doesn't make a lick of sense.
It's not all bad news, at least for us in the Northeast, especially Massachusetts :
If you look at the achievement markers for Massachusetts public school students, the results are astounding. Massachusetts students and teachers are not only performing at a high level, but continuously improving.
Newly released international test scores place Massachusetts among the world leaders in eighth-grade math and science achievement. On the heralded TIMSS assessment, Massachusetts eighth-graders trail only their peers in Singapore in science achievement. In math, Massachusetts eighth-graders trail only their peers in four leading Asian countries.
Our students today are reading better and doing math better than a decade ago. Ten years ago, the typical African-American or Latino 10th-grader was scoring at or just below the Needs Improvement category on MCAS. Today, the typical African-American or Hispanic/Latino 10th-grade student is scoring in the Proficient range.
If Northeastern states are doing so much better, it makes me wonder how much more poorly the Southern states are doing to drag the average so low. It's understandable, given their more rural nature and history.
Some other points. I moved from Russia in high school to metro-Boston in the 90's, and was surprised to find math curriculum several grades behind. I don't know if this has been improved since then, but according to the results they seem to be doing better.
Part of my more rigorous education background had to do with the Soviet mentality, when achievement and expectations went before individual rights. I think part of the problem in the US is balancing students self esteem and expectations for good grades with facing the reality. This has to do with the culture of individual rights being more sacred then the greater good of the society.
Actually, just like Asian families, Russian families see the differences in curriculum, and many Russian math schools have sprung up to supplement what Russian parents feel is lacking in math. The gap starts in K, when I believe curriculum pace is too slow and repetitive, according to what I see with my own kids. Actually, Russian kids are expected to start school with basic reading and math skills aquired at home from parents for the fear of their kids being behind and not meeting teachers' high expectations. Since it's been only 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly freed competitive potential of Russia is something to watch out for, along with Asia.
Another point, in my opinion, is American isolation from the rest of the world. America, in a way is a big isolated island, where most of the population has little interest in the rest of the world and has been so convinced in it's own supremacy, that it hasn't noticed that other countries have progressed much more rapidly. The lack of media coverage and attention to life in the rest of the world and fixation on sensationalist marginal events at home is in strike contrast with other countries, which view themselves as more of a part of a world community. It's only recently that the myth of American superiority has been challenged, so hopefully American natural competitiveness will kick in and motivate the country to become more serious about education.
LOL...didn't take long for a Conservative to come up with the "blame it on the darkies" excuse.
Inner city residents are American citizens. If they're dragging down the scores, then it behooves us to find a way to FIX IT! And how does a school "trend Conservative?" What does that mean?
BTW...plenty of suburban schools are total crap too. Even private religious and prep schools are falling off. Of course, it's not the schools, but the students that's the real problem.
Education in the USA is falling behind all over. Make it a race issue isn't going to help. It can be argued that many people who claim that "Blacks are the problem" are only saying that out of resentment. If there is a problem with inner city schools, then yes, as you say, we should fix that problem.
And on the subject of race, I've noticed this. I have been around alot of students from places like Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Some students from African nations often come here, and do so much better than American kids. I saw this alot. I found alot of African students and the children of African parents going into the mathematics and science fields, same as is found with alot of Asian students. In fact, I know a few people whose parents sent them back to Nigeria because the schools in the USA weren't challenging enough for them. Race isn't the problem. The American education system is the problem, and as you have mentioned, the students too. Parents need to take a more active role in the academic lives of the students. I know if my father had not taken a role in my education during high school, I might have not made it.
And on the subject of race, I've noticed this. I have been around alot of students from places like Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Some students from African nations often come here, and do so much better than American kids. I saw this alot. I found alot of African students and the children of African parents going into the mathematics and science fields, same as is found with alot of Asian students. In fact, I know a few people whose parents sent them back to Nigeria because the schools in the USA weren't challenging enough for them. Race isn't the problem. The American education system is the problem
We disagree on alot, but we can both agree on this.
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Sorry. Hang in there. 
