David Brooks, "Communities of Character": Ignoring the Decline and Fall of American Higher Education

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In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Communities of Character," David Brooks informs us, "All over the country there are schools and organizations trying to come up with new ways to cultivate character." Brooks illustrates his point by describing the Leaders School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn:

"This is a school with roughly 300 students who speak between them 22 languages. Eighty-five percent are on free and reduced lunch. Last year the graduation rate was an amazing 89 percent and every single graduate went to college."

Every single graduate went to college? How marvelous! Or perhaps not.

On Wednesday, George Will provided a remarkable synopsis of the depths being plumbed by American universities in a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "America’s higher education brought low." Examples provided by Will:

"The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, an irony-free campus, declared the phrase 'politically correct' a microaggression. The master of Yale’s Pierson College said his regrettable title reminds distressed students of slavery. Wesleyan University’s student government threatened to cut the school newspaper’s funding because it published a column critical of campus leftists. Wesleyan created a 'safe space,' a.k.a. a house, for LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM students (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderf---, Polyamorous, Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism).

A Washington State University professor said she would lower the grade of any student who used the term 'illegal immigrants' when referring to immigrants here illegally. Another Washington State professor warned in his syllabus that white students who want 'to do well' in his 'Introduction to Multicultural Literature' should show their 'grasp of history and social relations' by 'deferring to the experiences of people of color.' Another Washington State teacher, in her syllabus for 'Women & Popular Culture,' warned that students risk 'failure for the semester' if they use 'derogatory/oppressive language' such as 'referring to women/men as females or males.'"

Go to college in the US and further build character, grit, leadership and intellectual curiosity? I have my doubts.

As even Roger Cohen seems to suggest, America is sickly and getting weaker. May the Lord have mercy on us!

Thomas Friedman, "Obama’s Homework Assignment": How About First Tackling the Drug Problem?

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Obama’s Homework Assignment" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/friedman-obamas-homework-assignment.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss), Thomas Friedman suggests that President Obama address the failure of America's educational system in his upcoming State of the Union Address. Friedman asks:

"Are we falling behind as a country in education not just because we fail to recruit the smartest college students to become teachers or reform-resistant teachers’ unions [sic], but because of our culture today: too many parents and too many kids just don’t take education seriously enough and don’t want to put in the work needed today to really excel?"

Perhaps I am being cynical, but I don't know what it means to "really excel." Try as teachers might, the vast majority of students cannot be taught to write algorithms, in much the same way that I cannot be taught to play the piano - the underlying capability is simply not there.

Presumably there is a difference between excelling and making the most of your potential.

On the other hand, most students can learn to become productive, moral citizens and to master basic skills.

However, there is no mention in Friedman's opinion piece of a serious drug problem that is plaguing American schools. Cheap addictive drugs, particularly heroin in capsule form, are available in abundance, and countless children are falling victim.

Before seeking to enable students to achieve excellence, this drug problem first needs to be tackled.

Thomas Friedman, "Can’t We Do Better?": No

Once again, it's time to be politically incorrect.

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Can’t We Do Better?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-cant-we-do-better.html), Thomas Friedman tells us:

"We’re going through a huge technological transformation in the middle of a recession. It requires a systemic response. Democrats who protect teachers’ unions that block reforms to give teachers more ownership and accountability, and who refuse to address long-term entitlement spending that threatens to deprive us of funds to invest in the young, are harming our future. Republicans who block investments in things like early education and immigration reform — today we educate the world’s top talent in our colleges and then send them back to their home countries — are harming our future."

"More funds to invest in the young"? Certainly a compelling thought, but then I look back at myself and my own limitations: No matter how much money the government might have spent on me as a youngster to turn me into a concert pianist, nothing would have helped. I was not destined to play the piano, not then, not now. Notwithstanding my mother's once formidable talents on that instrument, I am tone deaf, or stated otherwise, "genetically indisposed."

Preschool is going to turn American youngsters into rocket scientists? I have my doubts. It is little wonder that the Head Start program has been determined to be useless (see: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/337924/head-start-still-useless-michael-g-franc).

Friedman continues:

"[L]iberals need to think more seriously about how we incentivize and unleash risk-takers to start new companies that create growth, wealth and good jobs. To have more employees, we need more employers. Just redividing a slow-growing pie will not sustain the American dream."

Query: Is it remotely possible that we need to think less "about how we incentivize and unleash risk-takers" and more about how we first discover where children's talents lie?

Proclivity to risk for the vast majority of persons is not an advantage. Bet the farm, and you could be staring disaster in the face.

Just a thought . . .

New York Times Editorial, "The United States, Falling Behind": Only a Matter of Education?

In an editorial entitled "The United States, Falling Behind" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/opinion/the-united-states-falling-behind.html), The New York Times bewails declining American literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills relative to other nations. The Times concludes:

"Beginning in the 1970s, other developed nations recognized that the new economy would produce few jobs for workers with mediocre skills.

Those countries, most notably Finland, broadened access to education, improved teacher training and took other steps as well. Other countries take these international comparisons very seriously; some use the O.E.C.D. data to set policy goals and to gauge the pace of educational progress. The United States, by contrast, has yet to take on a sense of urgency about this issue. If that does not happen soon, the country will pay a long-term price."

"Broadened access to education" and "improved teacher training" can make a difference? Spare me.

Where is the discussion in this editorial of the collapse of the American family? Consider, for example :

• The soaring number of children being born in the US outside of wedlock.
• 47 million Americans on food stamps.
• More than a million homeless students (http://www.nlchp.org/view_release.cfm?PRID=148).
• America's exceedingly high number of teenage pregnancies.
• An epidemic of child abuse in the US.

Given these problems, many American children can't possibly make headway in school.

Import talented engineers and scientists from overseas? This is almost like Rome relying on armies of mercenaries for its survival. Ultimately, it all unwinds.