[IrishBrigade]

Teachers are supposed to motivate, but if the student is not receptive, is it the teacher’s fault...

...to the extent they pass the illiterates up the grade chain knowing they aren’t qualified, yes, they are to blame, along with everybody else running the schools...

[dfwgator]

I told my kids from Day One, “YOU are responsible for your education, not your teachers, and not your parents.”

[machogirl]

I’m no lawyer, but is this Judge judicially smart or an affirmative action prop?

[FrdmLvr]

Then why are so many more achieving than failing? The reporting of standardized test scores is a relatively new event. I think it's more likely that there have always been functional illeterates, but the general public was mostly unaware of it until recently.

Having said that, the curriculum in schools and ed schools has been drastically dumbed-down since the 70's. But this doesn't account for illiteracy, in my opinion, only in the depth and scope of knowledge of public school graduates (and those private schools that use the same dumbed-down curriculum).