These words could have been written today, but in fact they were written 40 years ago by members of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The commission was created in 1981 in response to the concerns raised by Secretary of Education Terrence Bell that there existed, “widespread public perception that something is seriously remiss in our educational system.”
While some of the issues identified in the 1983 “A Nation at Risk” report have been addressed, many have not, and several new challenges have presented themselves. Forty years after the publication, there continues to be a public perception that “something is seriously remiss in our educational system.”