How to Fix Education — the Greatest National Security Crisis

December 8, 2009 by katemckeon · 1 Comment

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Why is it so hard to bring quality leadership to the table in education? Surely we have a decent mix of men and women who have served both in the business world and the education field? But do we have enough to make a difference?

I am a huge proponent of speak softly and carry a big stick . . . but what do you do when the population can’t figure out what a stick is? “The greatest national security crisis in the United States is the crisis in education,” those are the words of Bob Herbert in the New York Times. He’s right on with his call for exactly the sort of leadership that is currently lacking in education: a cross section of skills — not principals that exclusively come from a business background (as we reported recently), and not those coming from traditional schools of education who then lack the necessary business acumen to lead and efficiently manage their school or district.

With one student dropping out of high-school every 26 seconds, Herbert sees America increasingly suffering, seeing the answer to be radical education reform. We’ve heard this before and we are seeing it lead to some reforms that seem to ignore and go completely against education studies. Herbert highlights a Harvard education program to “develop dynamic new leaders who will offer the creativity, intellectual rigor and professionalism that is needed to help transform public education in the U.S.” It’s these sort of leaders we need, and the degree will additional demand that students undertake practical experience at an outside organization or agency in order to really solidify their experience. If we want our students in 2050 to be in a significantly better position than students of today, then we need to start educating future education leaders.

Photo credit: Seeming Lee