On Friday, ABC will air “Stupid in America,” a look at education in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world. It will shock many people, confirm the worst fears of some, and — alas — probably leave the American education establishment and its political allies in denial. John Stossel supplies a peak:
Kaat Vandensavel runs a Belgian government school, but in Belgium, school funding follows students, even to private schools. So Vandensavel has to work hard to impress the parents. “If we don’t offer them what they want for their child, they won’t come to our school.” That pressure makes a world of difference, she says. It forces Belgian schools to innovate in order to appeal to parents and students. Vandensavel’s school offers extra sports programs and classes in hairdressing, car mechanics, cooking, and furniture building. She told us, “We have to work hard day after day. Otherwise you just [go] out of business.” …
Vandensavel adds, “America seems like a medieval country . . . a Communist country on the educational level, because there’s no freedom of choice — not for parents, not for pupils.”
No, that sounds about right — some sort of Dark Age. New ideas do not exist. We can’t even get CMS out of the business of running 1,000 buses a day because that is the way it has always been done.
Be sure to watch.
