[MD] Quality sacrificed to equality

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
Arlo thinks it would be better to provide "alternate learning 
environments" for kids who fail at school without specifying what 
those alternate environments might be, who would organize them and 
how they would paid for.

[Arlo]
Arlo thinks it would be better to look at why a child is failing, 
rather than dismissing him/her as a "loser" or "inferior" or "dumb". 
There are many factors that may contribute, giving children with 
differing learning styles alternate environments to thrive in may be 
one possibility. I said nothing to "who would pay for them" because 
it has nothing whatsoever to do with my point. Ultimately all this 
must rest on a core value in education held by the individual, the 
family and the community. Incessant talk-radio bloviatry about 
"vouchers" and the big, bad "guvrmint" schools simply undermines 
this, as the cases of Finland and Japan prove beyond any shadow of 
doubt. If those who squalk about "school competition" spent half as 
much time in our classrooms volunteering or otherwise, maybe many of 
these problems would diminish. All one has to do is look to Finland 
to see this. But for that to happen, the issue would really have to 
be about educational improvement, and not veiled rhetoric.