As readers may have noticed, these "desk" messages tend toward the crotchety and Cassandra-ish. That's because we see plenty still not working well in U.S. education, too many dumb ideas, lots of would-be reforms that ran out of gas, and no shortage of would-be reformers who, when push comes to shove, will settle for being pushed by the system rather than shoving harder against it.
But you already know all that and you know that the Gadfly knows it. So let's - just this once - look on the bright side. Especially at this time of year, it's appropriate to reflect on America's education blessings. In this last Gadfly of 2002, let us celebrate some of them. My holiday gift list has ten entrants. You may have more.
First, everybody who wants it can get as much schooling as they can handle in the U.S., at no cost through 12th grade and bargain prices thereafter. The barriers have fallen. Race, handicap, language, poverty, even immigrant status doesn't bar anyone from school or college. Though sometimes stuffy about what comprises public education, America is earnest indeed about the education of the public.
Second, you can always come back for more. The United States has the world's most forgiving education system, ready and willing to furnish second and third chances, to embrace former dropouts, to tailor programs at odd hours and off-beat places for adults who didn't get as much the first time around as they now need. Though you may have to knock on a different door when you return, a door is always ready to open. You can move in and out of the supply side, too, teaching for a while before or after you do something else, embarking on a school principal's career after completing one in business or the military. That's not true in other lands where the merry-go-round only stops once for you.
Third, the postsecondary system is willing to fix what went awry in K-12. While many U.S. colleges should be better than they are, and while doing it this way is costly and inefficient, the fact is that you can, if you need to, get a decent secondary education in college, a decent college education in graduate school, a useful skill (or life enhancement) in community college, and the best tertiary education in the world from our top research universities.
Fourth, having 50 states is a good thing. Despite people who insist that our reforms would get farther if we had a single national system like England or Japan, the fact is that what Brandeis termed our "laboratories of democracy" enable us to try a lot of different approaches and accommodate differing priorities. That states watch - and envy - each other keeps the process open, competitive and dynamic.
Fifth, we're beginning to understand what really works and why. Though much snake oil still gets peddled and "education science" remains underdeveloped, some of its branches are flourishing. Primary reading is the best-known example, but not the only one. Cognitive psychology and neuropsychology are shedding serious light on how people learn, and this holds great promise for how they are taught. So does the push for more randomized field-study types of education experimentation.
Sixth, we're willing to innovate. American ingenuity brought us community colleges and now it has brought us charter schools of every sort. It brought "Direct Instruction," "Core Knowledge," and "High Schools That Work." It brought alternative certification and virtual education. Though faddism is an ever-present risk, the fact is that we're better off being willing to try new things and - eventually - to take a hard look to determine whether they really deliver the goods.
Seventh, private enterprise and philanthropy are bringing powerful innovations to education and, despite grousing about the profit motive, they've been allowed to. Technology is the most obvious domain-and will likely turn out to be a powerful driver of tomorrow's education gains-but we also have privately-managed (outsourced) public schools, small schools a la Gates, new math and science programs, KIPP academies, GreatSchools.net, Standard & Poors' "school evaluation service" and much more. And that's not even counting the thousands of business and civic leaders who have thrown themselves into the reform enterprise, often functioning as virtual surrogates for education's ill-organized "consumers."
Eighth, American education is blessed with thousands of outstanding, dedicated educators. Sure, we wish we had many more of them, but let's acknowledge the teachers and principals (and school board members, guidance counselors, HeadStart workers and bus drivers) who do a terrific job of positively shaping the lives of other people's children, all this for modest wages and without a lot of thanks or praise.
Ninth, for at least two decades now, the U.S. public has kept education reform at or near the top of its urgent domestic priorities. For a country with a famously short attention span, that's a mighty long run for an issue as challenging (and sometimes as boring!) as this one. Sure, parents could do a better job of making their OWN kids straighten up and fly right. (Too often, it's the other person's child who is thought to need more homework.) But the durability and zealousness of the public's commitment to better education are much of what keeps the reform effort moving and the politicians engaged.
Finally and most important, living in a free society means that government is the people's servant, not their master, and that public education, in the end, means whatever the public wants it to. You need not send your children to a government-run school, a secular school or a religious school. It's up to you. (Indeed, you can educate them at home if you wish.) You can vote for, or against, a bond issue for school construction or a voucher referendum or a gubernatorial (or school board) candidate who promises to raise standards or improve discipline. You can be a critic - even a Gadfly! - without fear of retribution (except from cranky politicians, thin-skinned White House aides and the crackpots on the profession's fringe). You can supplement your child's education with books, software, dancing school and summer programs. You can, to be sure, do more of these things if you are wealthy than if you are poor, but an outpouring of philanthropy and an ever more flexible set of public policies mean that such opportunities are (slowly) reaching more poor families, too. Not so many years ago, the question was whether low-income kids would have any education choices. Today the argument is over how many.
Count your blessings. Have a happy holiday. And return in January with batteries recharged for the education reform battles ahead.
