KINDER'S COMMENTARY: TRANSFORMATION OF MISSOURI'S SCHOOLS FULL OF UNSEEN TRAPS

Any reform that is acceptable to the educational establishment, and that can gain a majority in a legislature, federal or state, is bound to be worse than nothing. -- From "Kristol's First Law of Educational Reform" by Irving Kristol.

For two weeks I have been writing on Senate Bill 380 and its transformation of Missouri public schools. Kristol's article, entitled "The Inevitable Outcome of Outcomes" is among the finest pieces ever written on SB 380-style outcome based education.

Kristol makes an enormously important point when he notes a little-noticed but crucial distinction "between 'schooling' and 'education.' Schooling was when students were required to sit quietly in class while learning to read, write and reckon, as best their native abilities permitted. They were also required to memorize such things as the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and a few poems. ... Such 'rote learning' and memorization are now scorned. 'Education,' as distinct from 'schooling,' aims to develop the 'creative potential' of 'the whole person.'

Kristol continues describing the Brave New World of education, where "it is assumed that every youngster has a creative potential, which must not be discouraged by grading, tracking, strict discipline, a dress code or intellectual discrimination of any kind. Egalitarianism and a kind of bland political correctness rule the day. Intellectual excellence may be acknowledged, but not rewarded. Social cooperation, a warm and friendly feeling toward one's fellows, a capacity for enthusiasm about anything -- from turtles to rap music -- are all signs, of equal worth, that a youngster is being prepared to be a good citizen in our democracy."

Kristol observes, as I have on many occasions, that we have "turned over the task of educational reform to 'experts' within the educational establishment. These experts were supposed to come up with new and improved curricula that would make teachers happier to teach and students more eager to learn. Inevitably and naturally, they all worked within the intellectual framework of education, rather than the older, discredited and much simpler framework of schooling. Simplicity is the deadliest enemy of the educational establishment, since it threatens the establishment's sovereignty over the infinitely complex mission of 'education.' The ... reforms, of course, only add to this complexity. ..."

Kristol continues, witheringly: "An enormous academic pretentiousness is combined with a casual dismissal of mere schooling. Historians would have our students learn the causes of just about every historical event, but the dates of none of them. Mathematicians would have our students learn to 'think mathematically,' without bothering to learn the multiplication tables. Our experts in literature would like to see our students learn to think critically about 'texts' of any kind, but not to bother learning about grammar or spelling. And so on.

"Nor can one take seriously the prospect that there will be any kind of genuine focus on educational 'outcomes.' Tests will end up being 'normed' so that no student will suffer the trauma of discovering that he or she has little academic aptitude. ... Besides, how does one test for 'curiosity, openmindedness, skepticism and compassion,' which the educational establishment thinks are the true goals of education?

"Is it any wonder that America's parents, trying to evade this establishment and its political allies, are showing an ever-increasing interest in home schooling, as well as in private schools and religious schools?

"Schools where schooling takes place -- that's what parents want," Kristol concludes. Amen. Which is why I -- a product solely of public schools -- am sounding alarms over their transformation. Democracies cannot have strong public school systems without strong public support from rank-and-file citizens. As citizens wake up to the SB 380 agenda, this crucial backing is threatened.

Peter Kinder is the associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian and a state senator from Cape Girardeau.