Every year, the US News and World Report ranks all the colleges in the country, and Princeton almost always takes the top spot. While many people consider this a testament to the quality of education at the school, education activists disagree.

Lisa Tolin from Philly.com reports:

Education activist Lloyd Thacker complains that rankings by U.S. News and its competitors contribute to what's wrong in education today. To Thacker, rankings add to the stress and pressure kids are under, and make them more concerned about grades and SAT scores than learning.

 

"This process makes kids sneaky, game-playing conformists," he says. "The high-end kids are over-processed, over-packaged, disengaged with learning. The poor kids, the disadvantaged kids, see this process as so complex and so convoluted and so costly that they're not even engaging in it."

Ah, I see. The problem isn’t overbearing parents who force their children to get straight-A’s just to earn their love and respect; it’s the US News and World Report.

Good to know.

Instead of worrying about the education at top-tiered schools, maybe Mr. Activist should go teach Math and English to poor, disenfranchised children in third-world countries.

Just a thought.