Judging by the Washington weather today, you’d think it was the end of days. Not so, however, when you review several of the “back to school” education statistics presented by the Seattle P-I. Though some of the list’s findings are depressing (only 39 percent of 4^th graders can handle rigorous math at their grade level?!), these findings each receive one golden ray of sunshine for brightening my day:

Percentage of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds enrolled in school:

-1965: 10 percent

-2006: 66 percent

Children ages 3-5 who were read to by family member at least three times in past week:

-1993: 78.3 percent

-2005: 85.7 percent

What people say about teacher pay:

-Should be based at least in part on student performance, 61 percent

-Should not be based in any way on student performance, 37 percent