Gingrich says it all with his opinion piece in the Detroit News. Amazingly the paper also published a picture of the teacher?s union, which is worth a thousand words.
I especially like Gingrich?s clear assessment of defining mission and determining success:
?If the purpose of the Detroit school system is to provide jobs for members of a unionized bureaucracy, pay them well and pay them on time, then Detroit’s school system is a stunning success. If this is the primary purpose of the bureaucracy, Detroit may very well be the most successful school district in the nation. If, however, the purpose of the school system is to provide Detroit’s children with an education, the knowledge, the tools and the motivation to succeed in the real world, a prerequisite to prosperous, productive communities, then Detroit’s bureaucratic schools are an abysmal failure.?
Newt is correct in saying the education issues facing Detroit is an example of problems within the education establishment throughout America. Success or failure is totally dependent on factors used to determine mission. So let?s put this in context of our state.
If the mission of the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is to make parents think their children are performing academically well, and taxpayers to think their money is being spent efficiently and effectively ? then DPI is succeeding! If the mission is to educate the majority of children to high levels of academic performance, the government education system is failing.
