Soaked In It

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/opinion/25friedman.html?_r=1
This author is so soaked in 'governmentalism' that he can't see the incredible contradictions in what he's writing - he essentially is saying 'we know what works and it's all of our faults that we have not fixed this before by putting the needs of children ahead of the needs of adults.' As if that's possible through government ... Government is the process of using legal coercive power, and it is only justified when that coercive force is used to defend the rights of individuals. With public schools, the government's monopoly on force is used to extract wealth from citizens, and is then distributed to various political entities in order to sustain the status quo the politicians desire. We get a school that is directed according to political whim and near zero accountability, subject to political correctness and feel good logic, and it's amazing any of these schools work or that any good teachers are willing to remain (or enter) such a system - and to those of you who do, thank the heavens (my daughter is in public school this year and her teacher is a treasure).
Political institutions exist to serve political needs, which does not unfortunately include creating excellence in anything - but if Mr. Friedman sees a wave of school performance coming, I hope he's right. There's a first time for everything.