Parents, Policymakers, and Truth

When looking at the wide divergence between parents and policymakers about school reform, the data shows that parents think the problems are social (cultural problems) and politicians tend to believe the problems are related to curriculum and standards. The teachers overwhelmingly favor the parents view and believe social habits and behavior of the current crop of kids is the largest problem.

The truth is, both sides are right. The data clearly shows that social factors such as parental income and education contribute mightily to both student and school success. Wealthier kids seem to go to better schools where achievement is measured by the number of kids who attend Ivy League schools each year. Poor kids measure success by the number of kids who don't drop out of school. In the poor school, the curriculum being taught is less rigorous than that taught in the wealthy school. The culture and societal factors affect the curriculum.

A survey then said that 69% of parents thought that their kids were "Ready for College." Surveys have also said that parents generally think that the schools that their kids attend is pretty good (74%). Policymakers think that we should ramp up the math and science skills of students, but parents think that science and math education is currently sufficient.

One would have to agree with the policymakers on this count. When one walks through the typical graduate engineering department at a University of California campus, one is often hard pressed to find a native-born American student in the program. Bill Gates has long decried the lack of qualified people to program computers. So, it would appear that we have not done an adequate job of pushing the math and science envelope.

The policymakers also tend to hear another startling statistic. When compared against other industrial nations, the United States is middle of the road academically. We are a country that is abandoning manufacturing to become a knowledge based economy. Problem is, it will be pretty tough for us to maintain a lead based on intellectual capital if our citizens are stuck in the middle of the intellectual pack.

The truth is, in our K-12 education system, we must do things better. We have to find ways to lift the American student out of the middle of the pack. Whether we like it or not, the expansion of knowledge has made education more important than ever. So, is academic rigor the problem? Is the crazy culture a problem? Yes and yes. The truth is, both problems have to be solved to get our schools to the level they need to be.