A Sputnik Moment

I understand that the title ("George W. Obama") of JB’s post above is meant as a dig at Democrats. It is they who shrink from any comparison with Bush like Dracula shrinks from daylight. There’s no way that Obama and Bush can in any way be seen as the same. Though both are despised equally, it must be noted who is doing the despising, calling to mind the adage, "You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies." (Wilde)

In this morning’s WSJ, there is an opinion piece by Chester E. Finn, Jr. entitled, “A Sputnik Moment for U.S. Education”. The pull quote reads, “China delivers another wake-up call to those who think American schools are globally competitive.” Mr. Finn is referring to the results of the 2009 PISA test in math, reading and science which shows Shanghai’s 15-year-olds topped every other jurisdiction in which the test was given. Hong Kong was also in the top five, while the U.S. was somewhere in the middle of the pack of sixty-five. The article closes with the question, “Will (this news) get us beyond the excuse-making, bickering over who should do what, and prioritizing adults over children?”

It remains unclear what the former assistant secretary at the DOE wants us to do. Finn points out that Beijing has made education a high priority, especially in key cities like Shanghai (population, 20 million); that this success will likely be duplicated in 10 cities by 2019 and 50 by 2029; or even faster. I know, for example, that qualified, native English teachers willing to work in China can command considerable perks. At the same time, they are exporting teachers to teach Mandarin all over the world.

It would be interesting to know just how much the PLA is paying (per student) to be able to exhibit such success. I expect it’s much less than we pay to keep the doors of our own failing schools open. For too long now we’ve been under the impression that money can buy anything - literacy, peace, love, respect, politicians, immortality, solvency and the like - without the effort and discipline involved in actually maintaining such things hands-on. With the dollar buying ever less these days, we’ve run out of money. Scraping the bottom of the barrel for the dregs, we’ve managed to choke off opportunity for generations to come.

Time to reassess the root of what defines 'value'. IOU’s just don’t cut it anymore.

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