More evidence of the need for private education

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/07/10/how-californias-schools-brought-the-state-to-its-financial-knees/

I've become convinced that one of the most critical problems facing the US is education. Public education is a mixed bag, and I know it still has its defenders, but with all the problems, it seems anyone interested in education would have to admit it's time to begin seriously considering private solutions. Throwing more money at the present system and resisting private solutions are purely political and stubbornly ignorant.

In the spirit of libertarianism -- education

Public education is a huge problem in this country and it's creating a wide clas division that's getting wider. It's time to seriously consider private solutions. Our public schools are sending out kids from high school who are not properly prepared for the world of work, so, many of them wind up needing government assistance. One reason is that we've lost sight of the importance of making things, of building things. There used to be shop classes in high school which gave kids with a bent toward making things and fixing things an avenue to become prepared for the world, to get them interested in learning. Math and science are important, as is language and arts and history, but if we had diversity in public schools, there would likely be schools which specialized in helping kids, who have an interest in building and fixing things, learn how math and science and language and history and art all combine to create a well-rounded builder and fixer.

The fact is that many of these kids are more suited to building and fixing than they are to becoming accountants, social workers, healthcare workers or politicians. Plus, building and fixing are important endeavors which require skill, focus and knowledge. We need plumbers, electricians, welders, mechanics, HVAC repair people, etc. -- so it makes sense to prepare kids for these jobs. The public wouldn't mind supporting an educational system which provided a practical benefit and a well-rounded education so that more kids have a better start after high school and are learning things more closely related to the real world experience most will gravitate toward. A broad, liberal education is great, but so is learning practical things -- besides, now, many kids are learning nothing.

There's an attitude that building and fixing are below the white collar jobs or the health profession jobs, but they're just as important and respectable, especially when you need something fixed or built. Even if kids want to advance beyond these types of jobs later on, at least they have skills to work their way through college to become a professor or brain surgeon.

The point is that the world is full of people with different interests and aptitudes, and the building and fixing trades are important to society -- and they are a good way to ensure making a good living. If we begin to privatize schools we'll likely see diverse routes to education being offered, thus preparing kids for the world and work in much more practical ways.

With an innovative approach to preparing kids for the world outside school, we'll all be better off. I don't know how many times I've been frustrated attempting to find builders and fixers who act professionally and know what they are doing. I've worked in these type trades and I know what it takes to be good at what you do. It would be very helpful to start training kids early with skilled teachers, so that they learn not only the basics of building and fixing, but have a foundation to deal with the public and to advance into ownership, supervision or more complex areas of their chosen trade. They would learn how other areas of interest can benefit them in their work, like mathematics and science, grammar, the discipline of art.

This is just to make a point that we should be seriously considering private education options and allow the private sector to come up with innovative ways to include the poor. We need to get over the 80s' fear that corporate and business funding would be harmful to students, that they would brainwash the kids and turn them into little worker-bees and commercialized robots. With unemployment rising and the welfare state cracking, it would be good to see an inclusion of practical skills education. The diversity of educational offerings could cover a wide range of interests.

Update on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:08AM by Mike Farmer

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/06/02/get-back-to-me-when-theyve-got-something-to-launch/

Public Education: Changing mental models

Looking at the problems faced by public schools, especially in large metropolitan areas, the future of education is bleak. My oldest brother is a teacher in a public school in Atlanta and I know several other teachers who work in the public system -- their reports aren't encouraging. I've read several reports in the last few years that show findings which suggest when income and social status are compared, the results are similar between public and private, but this doesn't convince me that public schools aren't failing.

It has very little to do with individual teachers and individual students -- my concern has to do primarily with systems. It also has little to do with the existence of some public schools that produce favorable results and some private schools which don't produce favorable results. These kinds of comparisons don't address the underlying problems facing education -- they only serve to keep the argument going to weakly bolster one side or the other. The first order of business seems to be an objective assessment of public education in and of itself as a government controlled system. Then, if results reveal the system is failing, alternatives should be considered. It does little good to wage a statistical war with each side trying to find the best report to use as a weapon -- one only has to observe the public schools to understand that myriad problems exist which seem to be getting worse. Is the public education system capable of meeting US education needs in the 21st century? I don't think it is.

What I've observed and what I've heard reported from those working within the system who have no political motive is that schools in large metropolitan areas are overwhelmed by behavioral problems, bureacratic red-tape, incompetent teachers, lack of innovation, and crumbling buildings. After all the billions of dollars have been thrown at the problem, nothing much has changed except the situation is getting worse. I hate to be hopeless, but I've seen this issue swatted around for years and it seems that unions, bureacrats and politicians resist any real solutions. It doesn't take a 10 million dollar grant to study the issue to know that public education has failed.

How long can we fiddle with symptoms and throw money down a black hole? The system is rife with catch 22s and negative, spiralling loops. Until fundamental, systemic changes are made, the problem will worsen. Peter Senge wrote about mental models in The Fifth Discipline and everyone concerned with the problem of public education, or systems in general, should read and study this book.

Education has been politicized and, as I've written earlier, this is the problem with much of our society. Until we can address the problem in terms of real problems and real solutions, we're supporting an obstacle to kids receiving a sufficient education to meet the needs of the 21st century. It's time to demand solutions outside the political/union realm, because solutions within that realm will be symptomatic in nature and self-serving. The fundamental solutions to education will never be found and implemented until education is removed from government control.

(image from rdr.zazzle.com)

A libertarian concern re: education: let the competition begin!

Education is probably the top priority regarding our future as a prosperous, free nation. There is a lot of good information on the topic at Cato -- http://snipurl.com/6frwt [www_cato_org]. Public education is a dinosaur and no longer meets our growing needs in a technological, global age. A well-rounded education is needed, but there needs to be focus on preparing young people to meet the demands of change. A libertarian approach to education, in my opinion, is a much better approach

Our economy is becoming so diverse that education will require a diversity only the private sector can offer. I'm not a proponent of leading children at an early age toward certain endeavors according to their aptitude, but I do believe that if we had private competiton in education,  then parents, young people and teachers could co-ordinate as time goes on and students could access educational opportunities which best meet their learning styles, abilities and interests. Private education would provide many choices for young people to develope and learn on an individual basis rather than forcing squares into round holes.

A flexible, disciplined, innovative approach to education would help parents and students choose the right educational paths to maximize the student's strengths. Some schools would be strong in arts, some in technology, some in architecture and building, some in social science, some in law, etc., and children would be allowed to adjust as situations and interests change and maturity leads them in different directions. If a diverse and flexible private education effort were to bloom, I believe it would attract much better teachers who'd feel empowered to perform a noble profession that would enjoy the distinction it deserves.

By allowing children to evolve in their interests and be able to flexibly change from one direction to another, with input of parents and teachers, of course, this would challenge young people and start the thinking process of "what they want to do when they grow up". By focusing education on preparing for the real world, kids would have a clearer purpose of why they need to study and learn. I'm not suggesting that education should be a factory producing little future worker bees, but I am proposing a flexible edcucation offering that allows movement to discover full potential and actually prepares students for the world in which they'll have to live as independent adults.

Public education is bogged down in a union/political struggle to maintain power and protection, and taxpayers are forced to support this failed system. The possibilities for improvement and innovation are endless, if parents are allowed to choose the schools best suited for their children. But we won't have choice and affordability until public education is ended and the private sector is allowed to come up with diverse offerings competing to be the best. The idea that government should provide education has always been a bad idea. Learning is a complex endeavor that requires our best minds developing the best methods through free choices and competition so that parents and students can creatively choose the best routes. There would, no doubt, be a need for a transition period to turn education over to the private sector, but this would be a great, and desparately needed, advancement for all of us, especially the students. If you have concerns regarding education, follow the libertarian thought process regarding education in the US presented in the above links -- and understand the implications of the research -- it's eye-opening.