I owe this fella a phone call and a cup of coffee...soon, I promise.Greensboro's Reggie Greene, a.k.a. The Logistician, tackles the subject of public education. Specifically, he asks and ponders: should the government get out of the business of education?
He makes some points:
Many have argued that the only things that government does well are the maintenance of the armed forces and law enforcement. We occasionally hear from those who contend that private schools are of higher quality of than public schools. (At this point, we do not wish to discuss school vouchers.)I've been of the opinion lately that runaway, low-stakes testing is ruining public education. I've also been of the opinion that too many administrators are a barrier to a good, quality education. We need more teachers and less administrators.
However, we have never heard anyone suggest that government remove itself entirely from the field of education. We all know the arguments which prompted government involvement years ago.
However, many argue today that the “free market” is a far better mechanism for driving progress and innovation in society than the government. Should we just let everyone in society decide for themselves how their children should be educated, and leave them to fend for themselves?
I believe the arguments are strong on both sides, and like Greene says, we need to constantly examine and question whether there is a better way to educate children in this country. And there's nothing wrong with that.
E.C. :)
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1 comment:
Thanks for the P.R. Erik. I have often wondered why teachers are so poorly paid IF we really consider education to be so important.
The bottom line, I'm afraid, is that America, as a collective people, really does not value public education. It is viewed similarly to welfare and other government entitlements. Those who have the resources, can take steps to improve the educational process. The rest of the people, in this social Darwinian economic model, may care, but do not have the resources to really do anything about it.
Second point. As any organization become larger and larger, it begins to focus more on its continued existence, and maintaining order, and less on the underlying goals / mission of the entity. It's the nature of larger, and larger, and larger organizations. The systems become more important than the students.
Another point: Industry takes your best and brightest teachers out of the mix. Pays them better. Might do well for government and industry to pair up with one another to rectify this issue.
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