Should You Have To Show 'Masterly' Of Math, Reading And Writing To Graduate High School?

 The state of Oregon sat down and thought about it, and finally in the past week....said 'no'.  

Their logic?  Well....kids of 'color' (meaning Hispanic/Black)...can't get their act together on the topics of writing, reading and math in school.  So the consequence falls into play....you shouldn't be tested for graduation purposes.  You just get a certificate of completion, a hand-shake, and out the door you go.  

Your potential employer?  I would imagine Oregon business operations will quietly and quickly develop a 25-question test for you....as you seek to be employed.  Questions like.....the population of X-town was 10,000 in 1999, and they've lost 10-percent of their population over the past 23 years...what number does the current population relate to?

What's really going on?  I would take a guess, and suggest three issues: (1) too many marginal teachers employed in the state and unable to 'teach'. (2) A fair number of kids are products of alcohol/drug issue parents, and unable to concentrate at the level required for high school.  (3) Most residents not wanting assign responsibility to teachers or students. 

But here's the bigger issue....if you have 15,000 kids a year from Oregon who can't perform beyond the 8th grade level of math,  reading and writing....showing up at colleges in the state....how do you explain to them that level of knowledge is not enough to 'enter'?  Do you deny the 15,000 entry?  Do you add a 5th/6th year onto college....teaching them the masterly stuff they were supposed to learn in high school?  

Then you wonder....if you got so many young people lacking....should you go and force the over-65 age Oregonian folks to 'man-up' and work ten to fifteen extra years because they are the best and brightest in the state at present?

It's a weird problem and you just wonder....did some alien-UFO folks land and just insert stupidity into a huge population of Oregonian people?