Recent comments from Gov. Bill Richardson about his progress toward improving education in New Mexico and the promises from the two candidates for governor are overshadowed by drop-out rates and national test scores that place New Mexico schools near the bottom nationwide.

Perhaps local educators' criticism of No Child Left Behind low-achievement scores have some validity because the test tends to measure a variety of schools exactly the same way.

It is difficult, however, to rationalize a state dropout rate of near 50 percent or to justify New Mexico's high-school ACT scores, among the five lowest rates in the nation. Fewer than 30 percent of 11th-level students meet at least three of the four college benchmarks for college admission, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. The political rhetoric that candidates and politicians are again spouting seems feeble when measured against the hope for improved public schools across the state.

The weakness in nearly all national and state-legislated education-improvement programs is that they only set standards for the finished product. They seldom, if ever, examine the process inside of the education systems themselves. It may sound good politically to say just close a low-achieving school, fire the teachers and give students a voucher to pick out a school of choice elsewhere. The problem is that the new school is likely also part of the same tired, tradition-burdened system. If the finished school product is flawed, then why not look at how or why it became flawed as it went through the system called public education.

Solutions of stronger schools have to include teachers with strong skills in the art and science of teaching as well as subject knowledge. Teacher training colleges are not now producing an abundance of such persons. State departments of education will grant certification to any graduate of a four-year teacher college with average to mediocre grades that include education credits required by law.

Many of the required credits do not include depth in core subjects. Because of low salaries and a lack of respect for learning, by the general public, many top students entering college elect not to enroll in teacher training programs. The nation's top universities and colleges frequently employ instructors who have never had a course in methods of teaching, but who are recognized as being at the top of their fields.

State education systems could do likewise and recruit unemployed persons with strong credentials in math, science and literary fields who have become available owing to occupational cutbacks. Such persons could quickly learn classroom procedures and enrich the quality of instruction in the core subjects. Traditional certification does not seem as important as hiring for strong backgrounds in math, science, accounting and literature.

Another key factor is the limited time that teachers actually have to teach. The 180-day school year is probably more like 165 days of actual instruction. Schools cut out days if there is an inch of snow on the ground, if there are water or heating problems, when building construction is behind schedule, and the day before holidays.

Some secondary schools quit teaching a week or longer near the end of the school term for testing, grade reporting and graduation planning. Others need a week or more to clean up student schedules and balance classes at the beginning of the school year, plus numerous other reasons that result in teachers not being able to teach. New Mexico schools, like those in most other states, have shorter school terms than most schools in the rest of the world, and yet our students have to compete in a global economy.

Thomas Jefferson pointed out that our system of democracy depends upon an informed population. If you want to see a sample of how well a small segment of the population is informed, attend a tea party gathering, listen to the screams and shouts, and try to read some of the signs.

Jim McCullough is a retired educator who still cares about public education. He lives in Alcalde.