in Search of Wisdom October 25th, 2012 An Education Manifesto by Robert M. Fitch The recent presidential debates have not dealt with in any depth the most important long-term issue facing the country – education. It was mentioned Tuesday night, to be sure, but much more emphasis needs to be paid. Whether we flourish or flounder as a nation ultimately depends upon the quality of thinking of the people and of the government of the people. Albert Einstein said it well: “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” The news is not good. We still have superb research and graduate education universities, but to uphold standards they now draw heavily on foreign students and faculty. Many if not most of our kids aren’t competitive in the world today. The terrible battle in Wisconsin over teachers’ collective bargaining rights, and of the teachers’ strike in Chicago over a host of issues, prominently, seniority issues, are symptoms of our concerns, but they are not focused on what’s wrong. I believe that if teachers want to be unionized, they should be allowed to, but they have a responsibility in turn not to abuse their power. The Size and Nature of our Current Problems in K – 12 Education The PISA Study The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted exams of ten

in Search of Wisdom October 25th, 2012 An Education Manifesto by Robert M. Fitch The recent presidential debates have not dealt with in any depth the most important long-term issue facing the country – education. It was mentioned Tuesday night, to be sure, but much more emphasis needs to be paid. Whether we flourish or flounder as a nation ultimately depends upon the quality of thinking of the people and of the government of the people. Albert Einstein said it well: “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” The news is not good. We still have superb research and graduate education universities, but to uphold standards they now draw heavily on foreign students and faculty. Many if not most of our kids aren’t competitive in the world today. The terrible battle in Wisconsin over teachers’ collective bargaining rights, and of the teachers’ strike in Chicago over a host of issues, prominently, seniority issues, are symptoms of our concerns, but they are not focused on what’s wrong. I believe that if teachers want to be unionized, they should be allowed to, but they have a responsibility in turn not to abuse their power. The Size and Nature of our Current Problems in K – 12 Education The PISA Study The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted exams of ten