Look at what has been on American television and what has been popular in American music for the past decade. Look at the countries that have been the most innovative in mathematics and physics for the past two decades; America is no longer one of them. Look at the American manufacturing machine and how it has been struggling for the past three decades. The list can go on.
Without argument, American exceptionalism is on the decline. Keeping Bright Futures at what, quite frankly, is a pathetic standard directly contributes to this decline because it rewards mediocrity. It conditions our culture to think it is entitled to free handouts. True, there is an education gap in our public school system. It is unfortunate that minority students often do not have the same resources available to them as their white peers. However, keeping Bright Futures without integrity in order to allow more unqualified students a free ride to college is just a Band-Aid solution, shortsighted and without promise. How nitwitted of the Alligator to think that the Bright Futures standards should remain where they are.
