Edu

William Brock is the former Labor Secretary and, I believe, Trade Secretary. He currently is the head of some education think tank. He has some good, sensible views. And, he won't get listened to because what is says, although true, will be rejected by those who run the show.

First, Brock notes that "we recruit new teachers from the bottom 30%" of students entering college. Then, we turn them loose in the schools and say, "Educate!" Right. Consider this, seriously consider this. Is there any part of this that makes sense? Of course, this won't change, not at all. But why not? Because guess who is running education, the administrators, the supers, the teachers--yep, the "bottom 30%...."

He is off base in saying "they have no voice in their schools" (I'm impressed he didn't say "no say!"). And, for the most part, why should they? Remember, they are the "bottom 30%." Do NFL teams send the "bottom 30%" out there as their starting line-ups? Perhaps only two places do we find the "bottom 30%" in such roles--education and politics.

Second, Brock notes that "standardized tests of rote knowledge [shouldn't] drive education away from the very things that have made America special...." And, what are we doing? And who is afraid to stand up and say "NO!?" Yep, the "bottom 30%." What "drives" the curricula? The tests, of course--standards ("benchmarks," as nauseating to me as "biofeedback") are geared, not to creativity, to thinking, to innovation, nope, but to "the test." Now, that might not be a bad thing if, a very big IF, the tests were any good. But, as anyone who wants to go look at one can tell, they aren't any good.

I think Brock does miss the boat again somewhat in saying that "education is the key to better jobs, higher incomes, and greater growth in...an extremely competitive global economy." He adds, "Nothing is more important than education. Absolutely nothing." ("Hunh! Good God!") Yes, jobs are important, but edu is more important for another thing--the ability of people to rule themselves, the very existence of self-government. That was a keystone of Jeffersonian principles, that, with time and education, people were indeed capable of democratic government. And the US provided "the last best chance" to prove that despotism, tyranny in the form of emperors, dictators, monarchs was not the inevitable outcome of history.

Again, who will listen? Nobody. It's the "other" schools that are failing, not ours. Remember, as long as it's "give my kid an A, but don't make him work for it," then schools are wonderful successes. Note the inflated GPAs, not only of K-12, but also the colleges. (I never had an A as an undergraduate and, from the talk on my class's List Serve, not many did get As--note the colleges of education GPAs are often 4.0, Stanford's average grade is A-, etc.) So, the "bottom 30%" only know one thing--good grades without regard to standards and rigor.

Can you say, "Doomed?"