It seems like the news about elementary and high school education is rarely good. Scores don't improve very much from year to year and we're told there is never enough money. Teachers go on strike, they settle and the cycle starts over again. Part of the problem, of course, is the way we fund education. We use levies that have to be renewed regularly, so we regularly hear the arguments for renewing them. But we're also always being bombarded with new theories about how kids really learn, how we really ought to teach them, and of course, always, always, new evidence that American kids aren't able to compete with kids from other countries.
Stepping into the middle of this fray, is Scott Oki. You may know him as an early Microsoft millionaire. He left Microsoft 17 years ago. He now owns a string of local golf courses. But Oki also has education credentials. He is a past president of the University of Washington Board of Regents. His new book is Outrageous Learning: An Education Manifesto and it challenges many of our assumptions about classroom learning and school system organization.
Among Oki's suggestions: Let principals control schools and teachers control the curricula. Don't let school teacher certification get in the way of hiring the best teachers. Nurture character and leadership in schools.
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jjtimple said on December 27, 2009 at 10:55 AM
I agree with Scott Oki's idea of education. The ability as a parent to have more choices for me to choose from for where I can send my kids to school based on how the school rate academically and with extra curricular activities. I have read about how many charter schools work and it is simliar to they way private schools operate and I would consider sending my children to a school system like that if given that opportunity, but instead I send my children to a private school for a better learning environment with smaller class sizes and higher academic achievement.
34421294ddc878910 said on December 28, 2009 at 1:17 AM
Hey Oki - I have another idea for you...go get your teaching certificate and spend some time teaching in the most challenging school. First, I'm not sure you'd be hired and second, if you do, not sure how long you'd last. The kids would eat you alive. How much time have you spent doing research in this environment you think you can so easily fix? How does running golf courses qualify you to solve public education's challenges?
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