Bergeson "We gave diplomas to kids who couldn't read"

Terry Bergeson, our Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction, said it herself. KIRO TV reports from Olympia

"We can't hide the fact that we gave diplomas last year to kids who couldn't read," Bergeson said.

She has lead our public school system since 1996, as I recall. How did we get into such a mess? Should we continue doing what got us here? According to KIRO:

Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson hopes to give those students an opportunity to spend five weeks of their summer break in the classroom, trying to learn the reading, math and writing skills they will need to graduate from high school in 2008. At the top of her 2006 Legislative agenda is money to pay for her voluntary statewide summer school program. "I want to make sure that any kid who needs help that we can supply an extended learning opportunity for those kids," Bergeson told The Associated Press in an interview previewing her State of Education speech on Thursday. The part-day summer program she's proposing would carry over into the school year as a class for students who need extra WASL support.

Ms. Bergeson could have done that last year or the year before. And why did she give diplomas to kids who couldn't read?