Collegiate Times

Hats off to all of you future teachers in America — I do not envy your plight. From stifling budget cuts to constant educational reform to children who do not value their education, teaching America’s youth can be a daunting, uncelebrated and arduous task. In recent years, the educational system of America has come under fire for poor performances on international tests, curriculums that neglect a global perspective and funding that is often mismanaged, leaving little leeway for instructors to be innovative in the classroom.

Thus far, proposed solutions, such as the infamous “No Child Left Behind” program, have fallen vastly short of resolving America’s growing problems plaguing education today. Hot off the press from the White House is President Barack Obama’s newest agenda for educational reform.

According to an article by Mark Koba, senior editor for CNBC, the president’s new plan details the following changes to be made to the current system: higher merit-based pay for teachers, $650 million for new technology, more funding for charter schools, tax credits for college expenses, better teacher recruitment, etc.

While I concur with the idea that the proposal appears to be a positive step in the right direction, the outlined plan will not fully resolve the gamut of problems that face the education system today. After all, we not only need to improve the system that we currently employ but need to establish a vehicle of keeping both the faculty and students accountable for performing at a level that will be competitive with those students in Europe and other parts of the world.

 Like many of the issues facing those at the forefront of healthcare reform, much of what stands in the way of the ideal educational system could be resolved by making the system competitive through offering multiple affordable options for education rather than the garden variety private versus public schooling.

In a 2006 article by John Stossel from the ongoing series, “Stupid in America,” children from a New Jersey school for advanced students were compared with those at a school in Belgium by taking a standardized, international test; not surprisingly, the New Jersey kids were grossly outperformed by the Belgians.

What separates our two modes of education? Competition. According to Belgian school Principal Kaat Vandensavel, public schooling in Belgium operates on the principle that, “Government funds education — at many different kinds of schools — but if a school can’t attract students, it goes out of business.”

Why couldn’t we adopt a similar system here? What’s stopping America from jumping on the European bandwagon and creating a more laissez-faire style market of schools that either meet the standards of public demand or close down?

In my mind, not only would the youth of America become more competitive with the students of other nations, but more educational options would also eliminate much of the need for government regulation. History tells us that when the government becomes overly involved in public education, children often are the ones to suffer. Teachers become limited by the goals of the government-mandated curriculum and lack the innovation, creativity and passion that are the staples of the truly gifted teachers.

Not only do we need better teacher recruiting and pay, but we also need a fundamental method of maintaining accountability over an extended period of time. Often times, schools perform above average at the onset of their establishment but lose the urge to progress later on.

If other avenues of education were available to children in the same district, the motivating force to improve school infrastructure — staying current with technology, offering a variety of artistic and athletic pursuits, hiring the best teachers — would come from the drive to stay in business rather than from government regulation.

Let’s reign in the government power over education and instead look to the guiding principles of the free market for inspiration.

A version of this article appeared in the Mar 24 issue of the Collegiate Times.