On Education

Feeling strongly about education I have endeavored to make sense of and contribute to the debate surrounding reform and crucially increasing returns. As a developed country our future economic growth is based largely on the technological progress, ie brain power, our education system provides. Similarly, top corporations like to be close to and recruit from top universities again increasing competitiveness and growth prospects. From the bleachers it looks like the Obama administration intends to focus on decentralizing the school system allowing for a greater variety of models. The theory goes that various types of charter schools operating in any number of ways, models or theories with decentralized curriculum and experimental learning techniques will aid in settling the debate and providing for the best outcomes. In Chicago we are already familiar with this movement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s time as head of Chicago Public Schools. The results so far are mixed at best while the cost, subsidizes and inefficiencies are great. While legitimately an attempt to try something new I believe it is futile and likely to fail to bring about any significant change in scoring.

In a previous piece relating to the importance of parental input I attempted to outline an incentive based system that allowed students to bank money for continued education. Factors including attendance, GPA and standardized testing over the 12 years of school would be banked like social security and put toward continued post graduate education.

However, the recent enrollment of my 5 year old son in kindergarten has lead me to a new appreciation for what really ails our education system. Some background, my wife and I both work so from 15 months of age William has attended a day care close to were we live and work. We are fortunate that TLC Learning Center resides in our community they have nurtured him providing a structured environment for him to learn and explore and he loves it there. I have been impressed with the proactive learning environment, level of organization and general attention to child development--did I mention he has been receiving home work since he was 4. As he progresses with writing and numbers we have also begun with the help of the Peter and Jane books to teach him how to read. He takes to these activities really well and I contribute some of that to being in an environment that provides structure and purpose throughout the day. So I was appalled to learn that in the state of Illinois kindergarten is not mandatory and therefore most school districts offer only two and a half hour sessions. I felt insulted for him by the minimum requirements the preparation literature described, feeling in essence that the moment he entered the public school system will be a step back from the development that has already occurred. I want to be clear-- I don't think he is especially gifted or that we have been superior parents but he is ready for more than what is offered and society and public education would be well served to get kids into school earlier.

That is the point I want to make and what is missing from the discussion regarding improving results. Why delay kids who are ready for school at 5 What it means for a child entering school at the age of 6 turning 7 is even more frightful. First, that their first mandatory school room experience is taking place at this age is troubling for the adjustment that must occur in order to maintain attention and focus. The sooner we get children into a classroom environment and establish the purpose and begin to work on the necessary skills the better educational experience they will have. Second, children are ready to read at age 5 some sooner so why do we wait? What if we can't get to the outcomes that we want later on in the education system because we haven't started early enough?