A Modest Proposal: Close All High Schools

I’ve often speculated that if we closed all the high schools in America, student outcomes would not be adversely affected. The good students would find ways to keep learning, the middle group would probably cleave in half – some would go on learning, some would not – and the poor students might surprise us. After all, so much of learning depends on attitude and the bad attitudes we see in poor students is often a reaction to the bureaucratic, rigid, holier-than-thou or mommy-hold-my-hand educational system we’re saddle with now.

In the school’s place we could have apprenticeship systems. Tradesmen could take on apprentices to learn the trade from the ground up and for this the tradesman would receive tax beak. We could also have students who want be doctors or lawyers go “read” medicine or law with a professional (who get tax breaks as with Tradesmen). Societies have used this apprenticeship system before, and perhaps it’s time to revisit the idea.

Would this work? I don’t know, but I do know a couple of things. First, the massive amount of money we put into public education is not giving us much bang for our buck. Schools are funded largely by property taxes, and if we could return a large portion of that money to property owners, what an economic kick-in-the-pants that would be for our economy.

I can hear a chorus of you’ve-got-to-be-kidding me rising in opposition. What about learning how to socialize, what about keeping our kids safe? Well, anyone who has watched the news knows all about social media, and the tragedies at schools across America. Although I’m painting with a wide brush, both of these issues seem to be sort of a wash.

The real problem might be with the group we now call teachers. They would have to change the most. Some could become independent contractors facilitating learning in the lower grades which I would not close. Nor would I close the hot lunch programs, so long as kids get more than 20 minutes to eat. Teachers could help in home school environments, by running sports programs, by teaching on-line and in ways I cannot now envision. Other not so adaptable teachers would be dazed and walk around saying the sky is falling in or some such. For these poor souls we could have a leave no teacher behind program.

The best case result would be a student body that values education and knows they are responsible for their own education, a society where all adults are responsible for teaching younger students, and a society that rewards, not just achievement, but work. (Whoever said students get paid with marks never tried to buy anything with a B+).

I know I am playing the part of Jonathan Swift in all this, but here’s my point. Whenever we think about education – whether professional or dumb as a mud fence taxpayer – we only look a very small part of the possible spectrum. And the more we refuse look outside the small box we’ve got ourselves into, the more we are doomed to stay in the box, the more we are doomed to educational mediocrity.

FG Saturday, March 02, 2013
Am I mad as a hatter?  Probably, but listen to this Ted Talk before you decide.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud.html