A trio of ideas for education
The man who helped to reshape the country’s largest school system has a new focus: the nation’s K-12 public schools. Joel Klein, the former chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, spoke at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Monday, outlining his plan for a “transformative” approach to the country’s ailing primary and secondary education systems. “Human history is a race between education and catastrophe,” said Klein, quoting British author H.G. Wells. According to Klein, catastrophe will be unavoidable without major restructuring of the American K-12 system. His proposed solution has three core recommendations: Professionalize teaching, create choice and competition among schools, and bring technology further into classrooms. Klein instituted many changes in New York City’s public school system when he was chancellor from 2002 to 2010, including implementing teacher performance bonuses, establishing more charter schools, creating a unified and citywide curriculum, incorporating data into teacher evaluations, and closing some...