According to "A Nation at Risk", the American education system
             has declined due to a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools.
             States such as New York have responded to the findings and
             recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the
             "Regents Action Plan" and the "New Compact for Learning".
             In the early 1980's, President Regan ordered a national
             commission to study our education system. The findings of this
             commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our
             education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of
             education that many other countries have developed. At one time,
             America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but
             overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has
             caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive
             market in the world with regard to education. The report in some
             respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does
             not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations,
             with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect
             the need for change. Our education system at this time is regulated
             by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals
             and have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined
             with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these
             areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all
             students across the country. The commission findings generated
             recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the
             standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase
             the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more
             individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving
             N.Y. State responded to these recommendations by first
             implementing the Reg...