Pap talk - educational summit in Charlottesville, Virginia

National Review, Oct 27, 1989

WHILE THE White House and the governors wished William Bennett had joined in their orgy of mutual praise rather than speaking the truth, the former Education Secretary gave the most accurate account of the "education summit" in Charlottesville, Virginia: "the standard Democratic and Republican pap," quoth the drug czar, "and something that rhymes with pap."

That's not to say the assembled multitude didn't try to do something useful. Their main accomplishment was the adumbration of seven broad " national education goals." This was not a bad idea, but they wound up with items of the how-could-any-onedisagree genre, couched in that vague language that committees of disparate views are apt to call consensus." The "readiness of all children to start school," for example, could mean just about anything, as might the "functional literacy of adult Americans." The one that promises an adequate supply of qualified teachers" may even turn out to be pernicious, depending on whether the qualifications are taken to mean paper credentials conferred by colleges of education or concrete evidence of mastery of the subject matter.

The task of getting more specific about these platitudes has been entrusted to the National

Governors' Association in hazy alliance with the White House staff. They say they'll be back in a few months with particulars. How this comes out will depend on whether those busy folks take on the hard work and tough choices themselves or-far more likely-leave the heavy lifting to the self-same experts" and interest groups that brought us the education system we now need to replace.

Missing from the goal statement (though in some cases mentioned elsewhere in the summit "communiaque") are the sorts of heroic structural changes that make the education establishment truly queasy, such as choice among schools, rethinking what we mean by "compulsory attendance," merit pay, and rigorous accountability measures, including an end to the absurd tenure system that protects incompetent teachers and principals from dismissal. If we don't rewrite the system's basic rules, no goals however lofty-will produce better results.

Were there any welcome developments? One was a decision to start judging our schools against " an internationally competitive standard." This is long overdue. Most states and localities judge their education progress only in relation to domestic norms and averages, seemingly blind to the sad reality that these are much lower than the standards of our allies, competitors, and enemies.

President Bush's own address was not carried on the networks, which was a pity. It was well crafted, shrewd, and showed that he and his staff now realize that the solution to our grave national problem in education does not lie in incremental changes in federal aid programs. But as for his education secretary, the main contributions of Dr. Lauro Cavazos were to smile benignly and murmur banalities. The "education President" has finally begun to get his own mind around this issue, but he still does not employ competent help.