And remember that COVID is still out there infecting people. I continue to mask in public buildings and purchase thru Amazon if I can. I am fully vaccinated. I have only been in a restaurant wo a mask 3 times, including last week. I was very surprised to test positive for COVID over the weekend. This is a horrible virus and I feel horrible, tho not enough to call 911. So still be careful and continue to prevent the spread of this disease.

Radical…..maybe. But I still believe that Public School kids should have repeated the grade they missed or else they will be a year, or more, behind their education for the rest of their K-12 education. Repeating the grade at this age will do little harm, that’s what kids used to do if they failed in my universe.

To investigate any subject, you need to do two things that Americans rarely do.

1) Comparison over time--and not a cherry-picked time (for example crime is up compared to last year, but not compared to high crime rates historically).

2) Comparison outside the political boundaries of your own issue. In other words, examining Frederick County, even in historical perspective, is meaningless without comparing it to other counties in the state, other counties in the US, and other countries. It would be misleading, for example, to say "Frederick County's doing better than it ever has in education!" Sounds good. But if Frederick County ranks towards the bottom in the state, nation, or internationally it changes the picture.

Canada, as I pointed out recently, ranks #2 in reading among all the countries in the latest PISA tests. And it's #5 in both math and science. The US is nowhere close. And it has nothing to do with immigrants--the US has about 14% foreign born, Canada has about 25%.

So you should wonder: What's happening up North?

1) Canadian children rank a whole year ahead of US children right out of the gate. Why? Pre-K education is available and either free or subsidized. This "year ahead" advantage continues throughout the educational life of the student. I was in charge of a large (30,000 students a year) professional education program for a national trade association. Canadian students consistently scored 15% higher on average than US students.)

2) Teacher retention and pay scales. The typical US pay scale has 25 steps. The typical Canadian pay scale has 9 steps. Canada has a much higher rate of teacher retention. Why? One reason is that with only 9 steps, in the early years of teaching you get a substantial ($5,000 +/-) raise each year. In a 25-step system, your raise is more in the order of $1,000 a year. It's easier to walk away from $1,000 than $5,000. And everyone agree that, on average, more experience teachers are better teachers. And it's extremely expensive to hire a new teacher.

3) Teacher certification and education. In the US, many states (including Maryland) have detailed, often state-specific, requirements. The result is that if you are a teacher in another state, it's hard to get certified in another state. So you automatically make it harder for a good teacher to transfer to your state.

More importantly, in the US you get a degree in "education". In Canada, you get a degree in a specific subject (math, chemistry, economics, English....) just like everyone else. And THEN, if you want to become a teacher you take an additional year to get a B.Ed. IN ADDITION TO your BA or BS. In other words, you have math majors teaching math, not someone who has a degree in "education" and may have little or no math background.

4) Unions and administration. Teachers' unions in Canada are respected, and one of their main goals is to improve education. They often research issues on their own or in partnership with the province. They often set the curriculum for each subject with provincial approval.

The superintendent of Frederick County makes almost twice as much as the superintendent of Middlesex County in Ontario. And Middlesex County has more schools and more students. I suspect salaries of other administrators are also bloated in comparison with their Canadian counterparts.

5) Sports. Sure, Canadian high schools have the usual lineup of sports. But the coaches are teachers--not outsiders--and they are not paid extra. It's expected that teachers volunteer to sponsor / coach student groups / teams. And this attitude filters down to the students: Sure it's fun to be on the football team, but it's not your focus as a student. It's fun. It's a game. You're an amateur, not a professional in training. How well do these amateurs do internationally? Take a look at Olympic medals. They do just fine, thank you.

Now if I were on the school board (thank God I'm not), I would take a little road trip to the Frozen North and talk to administrators, teachers, and students and sit in on some classes.

I'm reminded of Stew Leonard's Dairy in "In Search of Excellence" c. 1982. Every month Stew would take his employees on a road trip to visit another grocery store. Each employee had to write a report. But it was forbidden to mention anything Stew Leonard's store did better--they could only write about things the store they were visiting did better. So Stew had a constant list of good ideas. Did it matter? Stew's store sold several times more per square foot than any of his competitors. Yes, it mattered.

“But the damage done in the disruptions of the last three years will linger for a long time, we fear.” The damage is everywhere, which normalizes the field. Fear is in no way helpful. Buck up.