Lame Duck Bredesen Clueless About Education

Bredesen's insistence on competing for Obama's "Race to the Top" funds and his desire to change higher education funding from enrollment numbers to graduation rates will do nothing more than take the "Dumbing Down of America" trend to a whole new level. Folks, we don't need to "race to the top" to find out that our public high schools are teenage wastelands of zero student and parent accountability coupled with unrealistic expectations of overworked and underpaid teachers so stressed out it is no wonder things like what happened in Knox County and Huntsville occur. Now we are going to pressure colleges to pass through apathetic, irresponsible, partying college students whom professors ought to fail but will now pass in the name of improving graduation rates and increasing the college's budget. Teachers at any level, especially the collegiate level, should NOT have to choose between their professional integrity and their paycheck. I sincerely hope that Bredesen's replacement has more realistic and credible options on how to improve education in the state. Businesses indeed will not locate in a state that just gives away diplomas and degrees to people that don't deserve them. They won't be worth the paper they're printed on.