Massachusetts Board of Education is debating the very difficult problem of what to call schools that suck.

The board has spent parts of more than three meetings in recent months debating the linguistic merits and tone set by the terms after a handful of superintendents from across the state complained that the label underperforming unfairly casts blame on educators, hinders the recruitment of talented teachers, and erodes students’ self-esteem.

While many educators support the largely symbolic changes, others call them sugarcoating and unnecessary, feeding into the sentiment that children are coddled. Debating the terms, they say, wastes time when the board should be coming up with a plan to fix the state’s 114 low-performing schools. Changing the labels seems to be intended to appease overly sensitive educators, critics say.

I’m guessing the sissy boys whining about being called ‘chronically underperforming’ didn’t like the movie Incredibles.

Seriously, as if the fact that public education is an infinitely growing money pit that fails to actually educate large swaths of students wasn’t enough now its a matter of public discourse what labels should be given to incompetent schools. This is one more reason to favor privatizing education. Namby Pambys that prefer to have their children, and more importantly their administrators, coddled can select schools that will do just that. By privatizing education, a citizen has way more control over how much coddling administrators get then when its is determined by a simple majority. Private markets provide way more control over education then a democratically elected school board.

Over at Argghhh! a poster makes some astute observations about public education.

1. Teaching Math In 1950s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s

A logger cuts down a beautiful old-growth hardwood forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes?
Remember, there are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it’s okay.

6. Teaching Math In 2007

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

Yes sir microwaves are much more important than our children’s education.

Seriously something has be done about public schools.

Retired Teacher Reveals He Was Illiterate Until Age 48

I’m sure this has nothing to do with teacher unions. Nothing at all.

Melanie Scarborough writes:

I would have assumed she was an anomaly or blamed the California school system if I hadn’t heard similar comments from other young people who attend top-rated high schools in Virginia, such as the daughter of a co-worker who mentioned a classmate visiting Europe — “one of those places that starts with an A.” Amsterdam? Austria? Antwerp? “No,” she said. “I think it was Alcatraz.”

Clearly, she was not a candidate for higher education; she hadn’t mastered fourth-grade geography. Yet after struggling to graduate from high school, she went on to attend one of Virginia’s state universities — exemplifying one of the reasons college costs now are so high: Taxpayers subsidize college for people better suited to asking, “You want fries with that?”

She continues with what I think is valid point:

Only in Lake Wobegon is every child above average. In real life, not everyone can benefit from advanced education. Not every career demands it. But while a high school diploma historically meant that an individual had been adequately educated for adulthood — could speak and write grammatically, perform basic mathematics, and had a working knowledge of science, geography, civics, and history — as my young friends so ably demonstrated, that is no longer the case.

No doubt part of this problem is the teacher unions. Unlike microwaves we care to much about our children’s education to see it improve.

Of course this is all heading towards this argument:

Throwing money at schools that don’t need it to spend on students who don’t deserve it defines government waste. Before the House bill is reconciled with the one approved by the Senate, perhaps lawmakers should educate themselves on whether such expenditures are actually needed.

When government steps in all sorts of market perversion takes hold. Higher education should have a price associated with it. Otherwise everyone will get a college degree and this will diminish the value of the diploma. Of course when you have noble intentions like making sure everyone gets an equal chance you can’t be bothered with reality, like that people are not equal.

Over at Cato-at-Liberty they turn on the sarcasm juice regarding education budgets being reduced by the housing crisis.

The summary news lede simply doesn’t do justice to this looming educational catastrophe . . . we need to turn to the numbers.

At Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, parents fear cuts in Montgomery County’s proposed $2.1 billion budget will threaten the math-science magnet program.

The desperate schools of Montgomery County will need to find some way stretch the $15,246 they have to spend on each of the 137,745 students in their schools. The Post informs us that the $2.1 billion budget is “a year-to-year increase of $110 million. But it would be the smallest annual increase since 1997.” This 5 percent increase is the smallest in 10 years! Surely bake sales must be held.

Seriously we need to do what we did for microwaves for our children. We need to privatize education. That way even poor children will have a chance at an education that will lead to greater wealth. We shoudl care about our children as much as microwaves shouldn’t we?