Blog Post # 14

 
     I think Joel Klein expressed a great vision of what education could look like in the public school systems of America. Klein believes that professionalizing education is top priority. He believes that the educationn profession should be competitive and held in high reguard. In his article he presents some suggestions on how this  could be accomplished.

     Klein thinks that when it comes to education, the job market should be competitive. He suggests that we "do what successful countries do and pick from the top third of graduates". According to Klein, better education training for educators is a top priority. And I agree with him. If the individuals teaching the youth of America, it is important for them to be properly educated in how to do so. Without the propper education for educators, we have the blind leading the blind. As stated earlier, Klein also thinks that teachers should be picked from the top third percent of graduates. I agree with this view to an extent. I do believe that teachers should be picked from an upper crust but this also makes me worried. I do not completely agree that because these graduates did well in school, that they will make exceptional teachers.

     Next, Klein states that we should change how the education profession is based on seniority. In the current system, seniority trumps performance. I think this a poor way to run our education system and is not only unfair to educators, but most importantly unfair to students. It is not fair for a child to recieve an average or below average level of education because the educator has recieved tenure. Nor is it fair for a child to recieve a lesser education because of his or her social status. His or her financial situation should not keep them from recieving a proper education. Furthermore, Klein states that educators should face rigorous schooling, preparation, and even have competitive internships  and a board test like other professions such as law or medicine. I think this would be a great implimentation to our school systems. It would ensure that teachers were well educated. Moral would be higher among educators, and their compensation would be based on their performance. This would create an incentive among educators to do their best.

     Lastly, Klein addresses the thought of radical change. This includes educators creating their own policies, boards to ensure these policies are being enforced, and moving up in the profession would be based on how well they did on specialized exams. I think this type of system would be a more strict environment that would make the education profession a very competitive and well respected profession. It is also a great concept because educators are running every aspect of the system. He also states that teachers would stop supporting the neighbor hood kids in neighborhood schools routine. Instead, children would be allowed to attend a school that was more suitable to them and their interests or talents.

     Overall, I believe that Klein has a great vision of what the United States' school system could be.