How
to Reinvent Education
Senator
Bernie Sanders is making waves with a big idea to reinvent education: Making
public colleges and universities tuition-free.
I
couldn’t agree more. Higher education isn’t just a personal investment. It’s a
public good that pays off in a more competitive workforce and better-informed
and engaged citizens.
Every year, we spend nearly $100 billion on corporate welfare, and more than $500 billion on defense spending.
Surely ensuring the next generation can compete in the global economy is at least as important as subsidies for big business and military adventures around the globe.
Every year, we spend nearly $100 billion on corporate welfare, and more than $500 billion on defense spending.
Surely ensuring the next generation can compete in the global economy is at least as important as subsidies for big business and military adventures around the globe.
In
fact, I think we can and must go further — not just making public higher
education tuition-free, but reinventing education in America as we know
it. (That’s the subject of this latest video in my partnership with MoveOn,
“The Big Picture: Ten Ideas to Save the Economy.” Please take a moment to
watch now, above.)
In the big picture, much of our education system — from the bells that ring to separate classes to memorization drills — was built to mirror the assembly lines that powered the American economy for the last century.
As educators know, what we need today is a system of education that cultivates the critical thinking skills necessary for the economy of tomorrow.
We
have to reinvent education because it’s not working for too many of our kids –
who are either dropping out of high school because they aren’t engaged, or not
getting the skills they need, or paying a fortune for college and ending up
with crushing student debt.
How
do we get there?
First,
stop the wall-to-wall testing that’s destroying the love of teaching and
learning.
Let’s get back to a curriculum that builds curiosity, problem solving, teamwork and perseverance, and away from teaching to the test. Give teachers space to teach, and give students freedom to learn. Limit classrooms to 20 children so teachers can give students the individual attention they need.
Let’s get back to a curriculum that builds curiosity, problem solving, teamwork and perseverance, and away from teaching to the test. Give teachers space to teach, and give students freedom to learn. Limit classrooms to 20 children so teachers can give students the individual attention they need.
Increase
federal funding for education.
The majority of U.S. public school students today live in poverty. That’s a staggering figure. Our schools and educators aren’t equipped to deal with this harsh reality but we know ways to change that. High-quality early childhood education, for starters. Community schools to serve the whole child, with health services, counselors, and after school activities.
The majority of U.S. public school students today live in poverty. That’s a staggering figure. Our schools and educators aren’t equipped to deal with this harsh reality but we know ways to change that. High-quality early childhood education, for starters. Community schools to serve the whole child, with health services, counselors, and after school activities.
Offer
high school seniors the option of a year of technical education, followed by
two years of free technical education at a community college.
The route into the middle class shouldn’t always require a four-year college degree. America needs technicians who can install, service, repair, and upgrade complex equipment in offices, laboratories, hospitals, and factories.
The route into the middle class shouldn’t always require a four-year college degree. America needs technicians who can install, service, repair, and upgrade complex equipment in offices, laboratories, hospitals, and factories.
And
Senator Sanders has proposed, make public higher education free
— from community college to state universities — completely free, as it
was in many states in the 1950s and 1960s.
Higher education isn’t just a personal investment. It’s a public good that pays off in a more competitive workforce and better-informed and engaged citizens.
Higher education isn’t just a personal investment. It’s a public good that pays off in a more competitive workforce and better-informed and engaged citizens.
And
critically, we must increase pay and improve conditions for the men and women
who power our schools—teachers and school staff who educate our kids, clean our
classrooms, and keep our schools safe.
The
law of supply and demand isn’t repealed at the schoolhouse door. We’re paying investment
bankers hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars a year to make money
for Wall Street. We ought to be paying educators and staff a decent wage to
develop and guide the nation’s human capital – an investment that would benefit
everyone.
By
reinventing education in these sensible ways, we all gain.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.
Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of
the twentieth century. He has written thirteen books, including the best
sellers “Aftershock" and “The Work of Nations." His latest,
"Beyond Outrage," is now out in paperback. He is also a founding
editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His new
film, "Inequality for All," is now available on Netflix, iTunes, DVD,
and On Demand.