Last week, NBC launched its Education Nation Summit, stating its goal as providing “every American with an opportunity to pursue the best education in the world.”
Perhaps you see our trouble right from the start: There’s little agreement on what constitutes “the best education.” Best for whom?
NBC says, “Education is the key to our future success as a country . . . Yet, we have allowed our students to fall behind. . . . One-third of our students drop out of high school, and another third aren’t college-ready when they graduate. . . . Our workforce is largely unprepared for today’s rapidly changing marketplace, and we face stiff competition from abroad. . . . The stakes are high for our economy and for our society as a whole.”
I have three kids: One grown, one a college freshman and one still at home. My wife, with my expert advice and assistance, has homeschooled all three.
We have not concerned ourselves with what is best for the country or the economy or how to compete with other nations. We have focused, solely, on what is best for our kids — on what they care about, what inspires them.
As long Americans try to solve “our” education problems as “national policy” to be battled over by politicians and teachers’ unions, we will fail.
Focus, instead, on each individual child, not an Education Nation.
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