It happens every year: Memorial Day comes around and I am showered with well-wishes and sincere thanks for my service by strangers and friends alike. Though I understand the sentiments are genuine and I try to be gracious, I bristle inside. The more acceptable it becomes to “celebrate” Memorial Day with a mattress sale and a barbecue, the fewer Americans take the time to fully understand the meaning of a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May. 

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In their book “Academically Adrift,” Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa claim that after two years of college, 45 percent of undergraduates made no significant improvement in basic learning skills and concepts.

These are fundamentals — like problem solving and basic business writing. In other words, the students didn’t learn a thing.

I cannot abide by that. I decided something must be done.
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With runoffs settled, candidates for the State Board of Education have been chosen and now we look forward to the November election. Voters and candidates alike should work hard to see through the smoke produced by inevitable electoral fires between now and November.

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