Pretty Good is Not Good Enough

This poem is a good reminder that having high expectations of our students and schools is so very important.
When our standards are low, we run the risk of falling short.
*This is from THE OSGOOD FILE, CBS News Radio.

The Pretty Good Student

There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class,
And was taught by a pretty good teacher
Who always let pretty good pass.

He wasn't terrific at reading;
He wasn't a wizard at math.
But for him education was leading
Straight down a pretty good path.

He didn't find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well.
And he did have some trouble with writing,
And nobody had taught him to spell.

When doing arithmetic problems
Pretty good was regarded as fine.
Five and five need not always add up to be ten;
A pretty good answer was nine.

The pretty good student was happy
With the standards that were set.
And nobody thought it was savvy
If his answers were not quite correct.

The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school.
And the student was not an exception,
On the contrary, he was the rule.

The pretty good school that he went to
Was right there in a pretty good town.
And nobody there seemed to notice
He couldn't tell a verb from a noun.

The pretty good student, in fact,
Was part of a pretty good mob.
Was when he looked for a pretty good job.

It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life can be tough,
And he soon had a sneaky suspicion
Pretty good might not be good enough.

The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state,
Which had pretty good aspirations
and prayed for a pretty good fate.

There once was a pretty good nation,
Pretty proud of the greatness it had.
But which learned much too late
That if you want to be great
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.

*Source: The Osgood File, CBS Inc.