Thomas Friedman, columnist for the New York Times, is at it again.
Today's missive from the supplicant of dictatorship and one party states, offers us a critique of the American education system.
THE latest results in the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which compare how well 15-year-olds in 65 cities and countries can apply math, science and reading skills to solve real-world problems were released last week, and it wasn’t pretty for the home team.
The home team being the good old US of A.
Now, mind you, there are a lot of problems with primary and secondary education here, but the results of the PISA are at best a poor way to assess them.
What country ranks first on PISA you might ask? Why its the country of SHANGHAI!!!!
Now, I know that some of you who were edumacated in America don't know that SHANGHAI is a country, but according to the PISA world rankings, you can compare the performance of students in Shanghai to that of say...the United States.
The math results of top-performer Shanghai are now two-and-a-half school years ahead even of those in Massachusetts — itself a leader within the U.S.
Yes, Massachusetts, a state with a diverse population of urban, suburban, and rural areas. A state with a large number of immigrants. And a state where the test results are public and testing is universal. Can't say that about Shanghai can you Mr. Friedman?
And, by the way, we ALL know that the Chinese government is open, honest, and never ever ever would stoop to lies, deception, or fraud. Just like the age of their Olympic gymnasts Tom? Or perhaps their disclosures on pollution? Or maybe you might have heard about their penchant for putting plastic in powdered milk? Did that ever cross your mind.
Also ranking ahead of the US, Singapore. An island-city-nation-state that is quite homogenous ethnically and is well known for its open and honest criminal justice system (snark). Oh an by the way, the population of Singapore is 5.2 million, but only 3.3 million are citizens, and the rest are foreign workers. Did PISA account only for Singapore citizen-students? We don't know, and neither does Mr. Friedman.
And what countries are improving? Germany and Poland, with their extremely homogenous ethnic populations. Brazil, with its horrid public schools that had no where to go but up.
And then...the piece de resistance.
Let's blame DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.
Democrats who protect teachers’ unions that block reforms to give teachers more ownership and accountability, and who refuse to address long-term entitlement spending that threatens to deprive us of funds to invest in the young, are harming our future.
There are lots of reforms that teacher unions have embraced. IMHO, their only failure has been the failure to throw out terrible teachers. However, inadequate school funding, teen pregnancy, family disintegration, absence of access to health care, poverty, and poor nutrition are SOCIETAL problems that no teacher can overcome.
And entitlement spending? HELLO? The biggest growth in entitlements is MEDICARE, which the DEMOCRATS have helped rein in WITHOUT gutting the program. By embracing electronic medical records, holding hospitals accountable for extended stay or readmissions due to preventable complications, and YES, urging seniors to create living wills and end of life advanced directives.
How this intellectually lazy and dictator-worshipping moron remains employed is beyond me. Perhaps instead of excoriating public school teachers, Mr. Friedman should look in the mirror.
I give this column a D- (and I am grading on the curve).