Greatschools.net

I don't normally plug sites, but this one captured my attention. When you find your region select a school from the list provided and select "compare this school" one sees the nearby schools within a preset mile zone. One can compare elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.

The breakdown shows AIMS scores and other academic ratings. It shows the percentage of "free and reduced cost lunches" (I guess that's the semi-concealed economic determiner), ethnicity, teacher qualifications (percent of teachers with MA or higher), and time spent teaching over 7 years.

The site is fun, because one gets realtime statistics for regions. One can't help but see how various factors pull down test scores. One can also read reviews of schools submitted (premium content).

One can't help but see, also, how the illegal alien influx is really breaking the back of the education system in some regions. By introducing English second language folks into a school in high enough numbers, the scores drop dramatically. Teachers and administrators have more on their plate and everyone's education suffers.

I hate to imagine what some of those statistics and scores will look like in just 15 years. The late twentieth century will be looked upon as the "golden age" of public education.