Five (More) Ways to Fix Our Schools

As always, I find a good article in the NY Times from former New York City schools chancellor Harold Levy. Here are some new - and not so new - ideas about how to save our ailing schools:

1. Raise the age of compulsory education to 19. Instead of being done at 18 after 12th grade, the federal government should pay for 1 year of post-secondary education - community college, vocational school, whatever - from the funds that the public school district would get for that student. "The benefits of an extra year of schooling are beyond question: high school graduates can earn more than dropouts, have better health, more stable lives and a longer life expectancy." Great idea, would be even if Obama put this into his federal education plan.

2. Reduce no-shows with high-pressure sales tactics. Making repeated home visits and early morning phone calls, securing written commitments, and eliciting oral commitments in front of witnesses would be valuable ways to compel parents to ensure that their children go to school every day. Great idea - in my former teaching jobs in Oakland and Providence, RI, and now tutoring in San Francisco and East Palo Alto - the best way to secure student involvement is to keep on top of their parent or guardian. And if not them, then give each student an advocate, an ally.

3. Advertise creatively and aggressively to encourage college enrollment. The University of Phoenix is an extraordinary example of an on-line (for-profit) school spending millions of dollars in advertising (on-line) to grow to an enrollment of 350,000. Although I encourage online discussion and believe education is going more and more into cyberspace, I lament the day we eliminate face-to-face discussion, teacher-tutor-student mentoring, and a relationship that can only be created in person. A good idea, but colleges already advertise, and you'll get more ad space for the richer - not necessarily better - schools.

4. Unseal college accreditation reports. Make these public documents and allow the Department of Education to rate and rank more objectively college performance and prestige. These reports are generally kept secret, and US News & World Report captures our attention with its schools self-aggrandizing themselves and marketing themselves to appear more selective or fill-in-the-blank as they can. This is a great idea.

5. Improve parenting skills. This is tough to evaluate, can often be perceived as patronizing, but increasing our collective compassion for one another is a good thing. Reading to your child as opposed to watching TV or playing a video game is also a sure fire way to increase literacy and improve the chances that your child will be a better applicant for higher education. Decent idea - I have a hard time blaming the parents.