Today's headline in the LA Times screamed "State Math Scores Leap." Upon further reading we find only 25 percent of 4th graders can do at least proficient math--and that is 6 points below the national average. They credit this ALLEGED "leap" to the new state "standards" in 1998--the very standards that make it impossible to REALLY teach and bind everyone to rituals that worry more about students knowing the number of a standard than the content therein.