I have contended at various times and in various talks over the years that there are three great democratizers in any society: a democratic constitution; a free enterprise system; and equal access to quality education.
America excels at the first, is pretty strong on the second, and continues to woefully lack on the third.
While we certainly have a public education system — an educational framework that has earmarked the 20th century — we are clearly not getting it right and will not be able to get it right until we address some of the more fundamental issues related to delivering a systematic framework for quality education in today’s environment.
So, that said, I was struck by George Wills’ cogent argument which appeared in this morning’s newspaper addressing head on the obvious issues we currently have and the obvious lack of solutions we are fostering.
Take a look.
Original writing date: April 24, 2008
Article date: April 24, 2008 Orlando Sentinel