Out of time

So the ever so lovely State of the Union address occurred

One of the topics was that we are not reaching students in time

I agree that students are not being reached in time because when they reach me it is often too late.

The solution to this dilemma according to the State of the Union is high quality pre-education which sounds great, but what about those students who have passed this opportunity? I know the President is looking forward to measuring how students think compared to how they fill in a bubble. I am just a tad bit concerned with the students who have run out of time.

Case in point 

 An 8th grader sits in my classroom struggles to write a cohesive sentence let alone a five paragraph essay.
A 7th grader shys away from reading aloud in class because he is at a first grade reading level.
A 6th grader routinely fails vocabulary spelling and definition tests.
So, what do I do with them? Set our clocks back and pray for the best?