Question: Why is it important that we have standards in education?
Answer/Quote: “The latest big outbreak of fuss and bother about educational ‘reform’ didn’t begin under the presidency of George Bush and the governorship of Bill Clinton. It began with the election of Ronald Reagan, the century’s least educated president. The fuss and bother hasn’t really had much to do with education. The real goal was and is the production of a ‘work force’ with which corporate executives can extract maximum profits. That is the real meaning of all the talk about education to make the United States ‘competitive’ in the global economy.” P. 31.
Comment: I agree with the message, but not with the author’s method of delivering it. His attack on Reagan is “ad hominem,” an attack on the man, not the man’s ideas. And the author is inaccurate, anyhow. Harry Truman graduated from high school and never attended college. Reagan did—Eureka College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology. At least so far as formal education is concerned, Reagan was educated.
On the other hand, I think the author clarifies the real meaning of ‘reform’ today (2011), and standards and competition in the global economy. Corporate profits. RayS.
Title: “ ‘Way Down in Egyp’ Lan’!” James Sledd. English Journal (November 1994), 31-32.
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