Modern education: Trickle-up dumbing-down

Randi Kreiss

The New York Times reported last week that three-quarters of the 17,500 freshman at City University of New York’s six community colleges require remedial classes in reading and writing and math. This report is consistent with what’s happening at other two-year colleges across the country. And if what I’m hearing from teachers at four-year colleges is correct, the educational deficits among all entering college freshmen are disheartening.

Reading, writing and math are still the three reliable pillars on which advanced education is built; however, students are leaving high school without a solid foundation in these basic skills.

The reasons are obvious, the solutions are difficult and we are caught in a cultural and political vise that will not permit sensible remedies to be applied. Still, we have no alternative but to try.

First, if students need remedial help in college, then the primary and secondary schools are failing in their mission. We all know that American students are no longer the most high-achieving in the world. Furthermore, the students who win all the top science and literary prizes increasingly grow up in families where the home culture insists on academic excellence (see “Tiger Mom”).

As a former tenured teacher, I believe that the tenure system has got to go. It has become a liability, rather than an advantage, for teaching professionals. Teachers can no longer be guaranteed a job for life, especially when many are not doing their best work.

In the world of “rubber rooms,” where New York City teachers are paid not to teach while their disciplinary cases are being adjudicated, sometimes for years, who can expect quality education? How can we tolerate such a waste of our tax dollars?

Are we serious about preparing our students? We need to pay our teachers very well, but not guarantee their jobs. We need to reward and promote them based on their performance. Education must be a 12-month endeavor.