School Reform, ALEC, etc.

I have two things to say in response to the videos we just watched regarding school reform. They may seem contradictory. I kind of hope they are because I would really prefer not to see one of them happen.

So the first is primarily in response to the influence of money on the American political system and by extension, our educational system. I don't think it's ever going to change until people start dying. And I think that possibility is a lot closer than people think. I'm not a crackpot conspiracy theorist and I'm not advocating armed rebellion. Far from it. But the extremely wealthy in the US have set themselves apart and above everyone else. Their actions are becoming more and more extreme and overt. They seem to be bent on ending every social program they can influence, and because their money confers an incredible amount of influence, there are few over which they hold no sway. If they had their way they would pay no taxes at all. If that were to happen schools would close, hospitals would close, housing assistance would become a thing of the past. If the track we're on doesn't change people are going to start dying. Poor people will starve to death in America. After a couple food riots make it to the front gates of the guarded compounds of the Koch brothers, then, maybe, things will start to change. Maybe.

In case you can't tell that's the one I hope never happens.

I do have some ideas about school reform that might work if we can get money out of politics. I don't think that will ever happen. But I'll just ignore that and talk about what I think might work if we can ever manage to pull our collective heads out of our collective asses.

There is no secret about what would improve our schools. We need better teachers, smaller classes, and students with the freedom to take ownership of their own education. That's what rich kids get in school and there are very few rich kids who don't make their way into decent colleges. The way to make this happen, I think, is union reform. Teacher's unions need to change into professional organizations like the AMA. They need to lobby in the same way. They need to hold themselves to higher standards, and insinuate themselves into the regulatory process in the same way that doctors have. Teachers need to be treated as professionals, self-regulating professionals. If a teacher does something wrong they should go before a board of their peers, the same way a doctor does. If a teacher is up for tenure they should do the same. School administrators should be educators who come from the ranks of their professional association.

I don't have time to think this out the way I think the idea deserves. But basically, the answer to fixing our schools is to treat them like hospitals. See education as important as health. See teachers as important as doctors. Put teachers in charge of their regulation in the same way that doctors are of theirs. Require high standards for teacher training and education. No doctor would dream of taking someone with an MBA, giving them 8 weeks of training, and sending them to the OR to remove gall bladders. But for some reason that's seen as a fine thing to do in the field of education.