Fixing the Schools

Show Notes

Here are my suggestions for fixing our public schools so that every student is respected, educated, and supported.

1. Stop electing amateurs to school boards who merely use it as a stepping stone. Appoint people using objective criteria to determine expertise.
2. Anyone with children in the private schools instead of public is ineligible.
3. Spread vouchers and increase charter schools.
4. End union control of policy. Pilots don’t set airline policy nor doctors hospital policy.
5. Enable a bonus structure for teacher excellence (the kids’ performance) and streamline the ability to fire. (New York’s “rubber room.”)
6. Reinstitute parent/teacher meetings, even if remote.
7. Stop lowering standards. Organic chemistry teacher fired for being too tough.
8. Ignore idiotic parent priorities: Allowing kids to play football with a “D” grade.
9. Stop “warehousing” kids based on age and instead use both academic and socialization progress.
10. Never provide for lower standards for anyone which just makes them inferior.
11. End accumulated sick days for teachers.
12. Insist on minimum grade point averages before hiring teachers (they are now the lowest of any profession).
13. Stop the practice of teachers applying for counseling and administrative jobs just to make more money.
14. Create truancy policies with teeth.
15. Create effective remote learning.
16. End the political and woke claptrap. The Chinese are teaching the STEM skills while we’re helping kids determine what their gender is and what pronouns they’re entitled to.
17. Stop demanding a school year of X days as if quantity is the equal of quality.
18. Assign and expect homework.
19. Use a different system to fund schools.
20. Remember that every poorly educated kid is likely to be a future social liability: crime, drugs, jails, addictions, homelessness, mental health problems, etc.

Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.

Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken