There's a pause in the president's speech. He tosses a wink to the audience. "Guess the world isn't so flat anymore, now is it, Tom?" TV camera shifts to Arne Duncan and Thomas Friedman. The Education Secretary and New York Times columnist exchange smiles and a high five.
Obama continues, "No, not flat at all. This world is a craggy, rocky knoll, America and every nation is a billy goat. A butting, thrusting, gruff and climbing billy goat. It's a race to the top, America, and if you want to win, you better have better schools than the other guy." General applause. Duncan and Friedman nodding.
The stakes are high. When other nations beat us on a math test, that's the press of cloven hooves upon your neck. When other countries push for better schools, that's a set of gnarly horns pushing you down from the top. Do kids in other places deserve better education than your kids? If the answer is no, it's time to sharpen your horns, hooves and pencils, America. It's time to cram for the test -- and climb!
I awake with a start. It's a week before the actual State of the Union. I'd fallen asleep after reading Friedman's piece in the Times. Did you catch it? He said Obama should steal a speech by Arne Duncan and turn it into his State of the Union Address. South Korean parents are apparently demanding excellent schools. Duncan notes this and then says with alarm,
I want to pose one simple question to you: Does a child in South Korea deserve a better education than your child? If your answer is no... then your work is cut out for you. Because right now, South Korea -- and quite a few other countries -- are offering students more and demanding more, than many American school districts do...
I lie awake in darkness. I think I hear my child crying. But no, he's fine and his brother, too, sleeping sound. I'm a fortunate father, able to love and provide for my kids. I get a drink of water. I wonder, is the love I feel for my boys somehow an affront to the nation of South Korea?
Um, no, of course not. And haven't we had enough rhetoric of this sort masquerading as leadership in education?
American teachers, students and parents don't need any more condescending invocations of nationalist fear, or juvenile appeals to competitiveness for grades. Teaching and learning are not about competition. They're about child-rearing. And frankly, the child-rearing ambitions of South Korean families are not my problem. In fact, it doesn't strike me as anyone's problem.
I fall back asleep consoling myself that there's little chance Obama will parrot Duncan's remarks. And I'm right. In last week's speech there are a few mentions of racing to the top, but no silliness about being better than Asian nations at wanting what's best for children. And I love that the cameras focus on a student from WHEELS, a wonderful school in the NYC Outward Bound network. But beyond that, not much to tweet home about: some good words for Pre-K education and a few other benign proposals and hopes.
A week later now, and the news media have shifted back to Congressional do-nothingness, and I sleep with dreams of the speech I wish I'd heard:
The President pauses, holds his hand up high. "I've got questions for you, tonight, America." The camera reveals several teachers and students in the audience. "Because questions -- as any good teacher will tell us -- are where the journey of problem solving starts."
"My first question is for this Congress: Are we going to let our differences get in the way of governing this year? And my answer is: Probably. Are we going to let our partisan disagreements again shut down the government and threaten the full faith and credit of the United States? Answer: I wouldn't put it past us. Is this Congress going to continue to delay solving America's most pressing problems? I'd be willing to bet the House on it."
"That's why, tonight, I'm announcing plans to use my executive office to empower some different members of the body politic to start solving the problems that Washington will not. I'm talking about the student body. I'm talking about the school house."
"After all, who in these United States should be more encouraged to start solving today's problems than our young people? I am thus announcing that every public school in these United States is eligible for grants from the Citizenship Solutions Fund. Formerly known as the Race to the Top Fund, these monies are targeted to support the integration of real-world citizen problem-solving into our schools. Because if Washington isn't going to solve our problems, America's young people will."
"There is funding for the creation of Problem-Based Learning Labs, to support curriculum that engages students in solving a problem in their own community. It's not about competition. It's about collaboration. And if Washington can't do it, our young people will."
"There are grants for transportation, to bring students and teachers into their communities for research, site work and the application of learning. And there are grants to bring students and teachers to their own state capitals to present policy solutions to their legislators. There are funds for a new cohort of AmeriCorps fellows who will work in schools as liaisons between classrooms and professionals outside the school. Students and teachers must be working directly with other professionals to address the challenges their communities face -- whether it be drug abuse, business development, obesity, flooding or drought. Because if DC is not going to solve these problems, the youth of our country will."
"And they're ready. Leave the antics of adolescence to those of us in here Washington. We know as well as anyone how to gossip, preen, bicker and flirt. Leave that to us. And let our young people do the mature work that is their very right and duty: addressing their own society's most pressing problems now." Applause.