Edward Glaeser, an economics professor at Harvard University and Bloomberg View columnist, America to educate itself to prosperity! For Glaeser, it all starts with politicians in Washington,
That message should be a perfect fit for Republicans – the U.S. becomes smarter through competition and hard work. Years of research have taught us that teacher quality is paramount; this, too, can be a Republican issue.
Yet some of these politicians seem to think that everything will be fine as long as Washington abandons its push to improve education. This is a path to mediocrity.
Glaeser mentions that Abraham Lincoln signed the 1862 Morrill Act and presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, and Bush supported education initiatives. Woopty doo…
The question is whether federal legislation (and the spending associated with it) raised student achievement and produced a highly-skilled workforce. Glaeser should be smart enough to know that the economic and educational return on federal investment in public education has been weak.
Of course, these entrepreneurs know that innovation does not necessarily require a formal education.
