Eduhonesty: Our classrooms are changing dramatically. Reading and reading comprehension have been declining for years. According to the CDC’s National Center of for Health Statistics, births to unmarried women reached 40.2% in 2014, up from 18.4% in 1980.  In some  cities, towns, and rural areas, English-language learner populations are skyrocketing. Fast Facts from the National Center for Education Statistics tell us that nearly one in ten U.S. students now is an English-language learner. According to the U.S. Census, in 1980, 11% of the population spoke a foreign language at home. In 2010, the percentage had climbed to 20.6% — about one in five people. Life-threatening health issues appear to be more common. Epi-pens and asthma training have become annual rituals for school employees. Not only do we have peanut-free lunch tables, we have peanut-free schools. Autism is rising at a seemingly alarming rate, although exact numbers remain impossible to determine due to diagnostic changes and more frequent diagnoses of milder cases. America’s children are getting less sleep, as stories about the rise of childhood obesity and decline of fitness explode across our news channels. Electronics compete with school and family for attention; children sometimes game through the night, and under their desks in the classroom. In urban areas especially, gang-related issues can turn a walk to school into a perfectly good reason to stay home.

We are in a hell of a mess out here and I don’t see how blaming teachers helps anybody.