Yet Another ‘Big’ Plan to Reform Education

I would love to tell you about proposed redesign of the nation’s educational system, but I can’t. Why? Because some boneheads decided to charge $19.95 for a report that is supposed to be a “far-reaching redesign of the American education system,” according to a skimpy New York Times article. Shouldn’t a report like that be made free – at least by pdf – to the public?

In reality, I probably don’t have time to read the 170-age report, which was created by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. But the Times and Washington Post stories give me a few glimmers of what’s in this thing:

• Public schools could choose independent contractors to run their schools.
• States would gain control over school financing.
• Board exams would be required to graduate high school.
• Children would begin schooling at age 3.
• Many could complete high school by 10th grade instead of 12th. Let them go to community colleges after that.
• Teachers would be paid about $100,000 annually but lose their pensions in favor of 401(k) retirement programs.

Do you notice a trend here? This “far-reaching redesign” focuses on bureaucratic structural changes to America’s educational system. Maybe the journalists who wrote these articles didn’t have time to read more deeply into the report or maybe there was little else of substance. Hard to say.

What I don’t see here is anything directed at teaching methods or dealing with the cultural aspects of education. How about the unique problems of inner city schools?

You can improve bureaucracy and schools all you want, but without changing broader societal attitudes toward education, most plans are doomed for failure.

As a result, I don’t see anything that reveals a real solution to the problems facing public schools. I hope I am wrong, but I just see more window dressing and fodder for partisan debate.

Comments

[chip]

though to be fair, in my limited experience the bureaucracy is a huge problem.

That said, I'd be totally against "independent contractors" taking over public schools. The last thing we need is to inject the profit motive into education!

And kids starting school at 3 is insane, if they are talking about academics rather than typical nursery school play and socialization stuff.

[brettdl]

Yeah, I tend to believe that structrual changes rarely solves problems: it's the people and culture within that structure that is usually the problem.

I think preschool for 3-year-olds is okay if it's a couple hours a day. It's also an improvement for kids who are in day school 40+ hours a week. But I agree, if it's with academics in mind, it's a silly idea.

[Dave Cantrell]

I hope it's agreeable to you that I quoted you (and linked to you) on my site: RiverTown News

[brettdl]

Thanks Dave. I put a comment on your site.