On October 19th of this year the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to suspend the essential skills graduation requirement. Previously students were required to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing and ‘rithmatic (AKA Math) in order to graduate. But due to the pandemic this requirement has been suspended until the 2027-2028 school year. This will give enough time for every country that has not already advanced beyond our averages, to leave us in the dust, academically speaking.
A high school diploma will now carries all the value of a participation trophy in a tetherball tournament. (Apologies to tetherball…they never did anything to warrant such disrespect).