There is a lot of talk about how bad the public schools, especially those in the inner city neighborhoods of big cities are. Most of the proposed solutions come down to pouring more tax payer money into the black hole that they have become. I think that this is the wrong approach to solving the problem. I think the solution is simple and will lead to better schools at a lower per student cost.

Require all elected officials to send their children to public schools.

It wouldn’t be long before the stranglehold of the teachers unions, which do nothing for individual teachers, would be broken. Good teachers would still have protection against arbitrary and capricious termination, innovation would be encouraged, and silly rules designed to protect inept administrators would be removed. A lot of the silly programs and classes that are designed to indoctrinate and not teach useful skills would vanish quickly. Administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors would address citizen concerns quickly. Laws that stand in the way of educating (again versus indoctrinating) students would be repealed or amended.

When I say ALL elected officials I mean everyone of them, from local city or town officials up to the President of the United States. If public schools are too unsafe for the children of the most powerful man on the planet, how dangerous are they for your kids or mine?

Maybe it’s time for a Constitutional Amendment.