The trouble with teacher training

Among the successful attacks on President Bush’s education bill, already mauled by the education establishment and its pack of congressional Dobermans, is a provision to dump more federal money into training “certified” teachers. I suggest that a large part of the explanation for the poor student performance, however, is the fact that our teacher-education programs are often worse than useless.




New Report on Higher Ed Unduly Praises, Criticizes UNC

The report “Measuring Up 2000” makes North Carolina look good in some respects and bad in others. But before rushing to praise state policymakers where the grades are high or criticize them where the grades are low, we need to examine several questionable assumptions that undermine the validity of those grades.



Senate Proposes Limiting Credit Cards for “Underage” Students

For most young adults, reaching the age of 21 is the final step into adulthood. At that age, they are allowed to purchase alcohol, having already been granted the privileges of working, driving, voting, smoking and enlisting in the military. Legislation before the U.S. Senate would add another “privilege” to reaching the age of 21: being able to receive a credit card.


‘If You Were Governor, What Would You Do?’

“The pathway to success is to keep the doors of our colleges and universities open to all, and to open them even wider,” North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt said in a recent editorial to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a national magazine that examines news and issues concerning colleges and universities nationwide. Hunt’s editorial appeared in the “Opinion & Arts” section of the July 16, 1999 edition of The Chronicle.