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need Invest wisely-in addressing student needs
·
to go way 0 f busmess
. _
PubliC schools
We should invest only in teacher training and professional
development programs that have been made more relevant to
student needs (for example, replacing lecture classes with
. hands-on experiences and skill building in key areas like math
and science). We should invest only in pay increases for teach
ers and administrators that are keyed to performance.
There's one more investment we should make, and it's the
By Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
most important our time. Real change will come only when
The competition is over, the results are in and the United we all take responsibility for fixing the system. This is one
S~tes has finished third from rock bottom. Not in the moun- more'lesson from the businessworld. The greatest gains in pro
taln~ of Nagano, where the Winter Games concluded recently,ductivity, creativity and competitiveness have come not from
but, In an arena far more important Results of the Third Inter- management diCtates' but trom an empowered workforce.
, natIonal Math and Science Survey show that American 12th
If your child's homework is too easy, challenge the teacher
graders finished ahead of only Cyprus and South Africa in to make it tougher. If students in your hometown are routinely
math and finished sixth from the bottom in science,
promoted based 6n ~~seattime" rather than real achievement,
If our Olympi~ns h~d turned in a similarly dismal perfor object publicly. If the state where you live .hasn't s~t standards,
mance, we can Imagme the outcry and the humiliation we call the governor and find out why. (AchIeve, whIch recently
woul,d have felt as a nation. How do we feel about these aca brought together 19states, is benchmarking standards across
demlc results? The problem isn't.hard to identify. U.s. school the states,) If you see political and school leaders who are com
standards are too low, our curriculum too broad and unfo mitted to.change, support them. There's money to be spent,
c~, and our t.e~ts too easy. Perversely, our system retards and the people charged with spending it. care. about what th~ir
natIonal competitIveness. Our performance in math and sci constituents think. Let's make sure thIS umque opportumty
isn't wasted. Let's join the fight
ence actually declin~ from fo~rth to eighth to 12th grade.
'
In ~ way, .AmenCl;ln pubhc education today resembles
Louis V. Gerstner Jr. is chairman and CEO of IBM.
Amencan bUSiness as It was.15 years ago. We weren't competi.
tlve. We had been resistant to
change. In international compari
Poor grade in math
sons, especially with our Asian
U.S. 12th-graders
competitors, we lagged behind.
finished ahead of just
Our economy was in the doldrums,
two countries in a sur
and our workers - like our school
vey on math literacy:
children today - were the vicfims,
'-1..
1. Netherlands
2. Swaden
3. Denmark
businesses were faced with
4•.Switzerland
I
a stark choice: change or close.
5. Iceland
They changed. They began to in
6. Norway
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vest in substantial transformation
7. France
:)
n~w methods of production, ne"":
8. Australia
kmds ot worker training. Most im
9. New Zealand
portant, they continually bench
10. Canada
co
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marked performance against one
11. Austria
0)
12. Slovenia
another and against international
13. Germany
competition. They invested capital
14. Hungary
to adopt and adapt methods used
15. Italy
by the most successful companies,
16. Russia
no matter what geography. And it
17. Lithuania
worked. The clearest evidence of
18. Czech Republic
that success is the state of the U.S.
19. United States
economy and the virtual elimina
20. Cyprus
tion of the federal budget deficit
21. South Africa
This ongoing economic boom is
Source: Third Intemational
also an opportunity. We are wit
Mathematics and Science
Study
nessing significant state budget sur
pluses for the first time in decades'
.
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a combined $28 billion for 1997 and an estimated additionai
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$24 billion this ,Year. And ~veral governors have pledged to
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target J?uc~ of It to e?ucation. The question is: Will American
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education, hke American business, invest in long-tenri struc
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tural c~anges? Or will it simply throw money at the problem?
That, s the opP,Ortunity. Here's the challenge. The state of
education today IS less the result of underfunding or lack of
tale~t than of poor accountability for performance. The prob
lem IS that ~e haven't kept up with the rest of the world or with
the economIc and technological changes sweeping the planet.
Core structural aspects of education - the lengths of the
school ~ay an~ school year, outmoded teacher training, multi
ple<hOI,ce testmg and use of school time - haven't changed in
generahOns. Our schools are oddly insulated from market
place forces and the diSCipline that drives constant adaptation
self-renewal and a relentless push for excellence.
.
As state proposals are refined, only those directly linked to
~ea1 change should win the backing of lawmakers. We should
Invest only when, as a quid pro quo, we get the highest academ
IC stand~ds, tests aligned with those standards and real ac
countabIlity for performance. We should invest only where it is
clear what children should be able to know and to do in order
to advance. If they aren't able to do it., they shouldn't advance.
Respond with change
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airfares were based on nrnes • • •
I say bunk to the Opposing View on air
lin!! fares by Carol B. Hallett, president
and CEO of the Air Transport Association
("Airfares are a bargain," Rising Airfares
Debate: F"riday).
The airport in the small city where I live
is serviced by two airlines. To fly 225 miles
from Pasco, Wash., to Seattle costs $169
round trip. That's more expensive than fre
quently advertised fares from Seattle to
Chicago. I've flown the 3,000 miles from
Seattle to Miami for just twice that fare.
As to the question about why people con
tinue to fly through hu b airportS, we're not
given a choice. It's not my choice to go to
Miami via Minneapolis; it's the air carri
er's. I'd rather go straight to Miami.
Don't try to tell me what a bargain it is to
fly. And don't quote me inflated figures on
how much air travel is up. The figures
quoted from 1978-97 average slightly more
than 4% annual growth. That doesn~ rep
resent a huge increase.
At the same time fares are going up, ser
vice is going down. Meals are lousy, planes
are frequently overbooked, flights are can
celed, luggage is lost or damaged. And
that's on the airlines' best days.
If anyone really wants airlines to give us
a break, let them 'calculate their fees
based on air miles traveled instead of the
lack of competition. Then, maybe, we
might see an increase in air travel that
would be shocking.
Michael E . Lauman
Kennewick, Wash.
Susan McDougal serves Ointon, not country
I don't understand why people keep
interviewing Susan McDougal because
I don't believe anyone cares what she
thinks about independent counsel Ken
neth Starr or anyone else.
But her comments Monday in Larry
King's People column were, to say the
least, typical when you take into consid
eration the source ("McDougal, doing
time 'for my country' " ).
If memory serves me correctly, she
was sentenced to jail time for contempt
of court stemming from her refusal to
answer one simple question: Did Presi
dent Clinton tell the truth in his deposi
tion in the Whitewater scam? All she
has to do is tell the truth, answer yes or
no, and she refuses. She says she is not
going to be the person who ruins some
one's life.
In analyzing her statement, appar
ently the only way she could ruin some;
one's life is to answer no, he wasn't tell
ing the truth, because she would be
ruining his life by making a liar out of
him. If he was telling the truth, all she
has to do is answer yes, but she hasn't
Why? Could it be that if she said yes she
would be lying and committing perju
ry? It is such A simplp flUt'slion. hUI sh<'
c:lUN.JSt"S hI lw UlH lllu-r !'it,hlll-I" 111 1I hmg
line o( go<xl sol<licr.; who un' willing to
fallon a sword for Clinton. One cannot
but wonder what her reward will be.
As far as doing this for " her country,"
that's a joke. I know her country is sure
ly not my country. I do not want to live
in a country where people do not care
about their leaders' moral character,
where as long as they get "theirs" they
couldn't care less whether their leaders
Gerald Strauch of the American Col
lege of Surgeons is dead wrong when he
says family members should not be pre
sent when patients are being resuscitat
ed in the emergency department
("Some hospitals now let family mem
bers in ERs," Cover Story, News, Thurs
day) .
Who is he to decide what is best for
patients and their families?
It is this paternalistic attitude from
physicians that angers families and
makes their experiences in the emer
gency department even more horrible.
Every family should be given the op
tion to be with a loved one.
I am a board-certified emergency
nurse, and it should be no surprise to
readers that nurses are taking the lead
on this issue. I am fortunate to work
with physicians who are tuned into the
needs of our patienlS and their families.
But, as the story points out, not all physi
cians have an empathetic perspective.
. More than ever, USA TODAY's story
illustrates why we all must fight cut
backs in the number of registered
nurses caring for patients in our hospi
tals. Every patient deserves a nurse
a person who will be a tireless advocate
for patients and their families.
Patricia Carroll
Meriden, Conn.
Visit to Washington canceled
.by Security Council business
The claim of Judy Keen's article in Mon
day's USA TODAY is that United Nations.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan canceled
his trip this week to Washington because
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R
Miss., declined to meet with him ("U.N.
chief cancels trip after rebuff," News).
This is incorrect
The secretary-general had numerous
sessions scheduled with the president and
other senior administration officials, the
Senate Foreign Affairs and House Interna
tional Relations committees, the House
leadership and othel'S.
McDougal: A lulllll wrilul wUlIlIul ~ wily
she' won't answer a Simple question
about Clinton.
possess integrity.
Well., I come from the South, just like
Bill Clinton and Susan McDougal, and
we have a name for people like these
two. As I said, consider the source.
Gretchen Berry
Port Allen, La.
.Arafat flap reveals Holocaust Museum flaw
Nobel Laureate E1ie Wiesel has called
the treatment of Walter Reich, director of
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a
"gross injustice" in the wake of PLO chair
man Yasser Arafat's ill-fated proposed vis
it to the memorial.
The sad fact is that the muS('um i~ the
vic1im oC a ~ros.... injtlsliec',
lis ,,,,,,,,'nlial Inissioll o( 1llJlol':lllsl :,wan'
ness and education has been obfuscated
and, in fact, jeopardized by the conflicts
and crises of the past few week~.
It is imperative the governance prob
lems that have been brought to light by
these distressing evenlS be r~solvf'd effi
dl'nlly IInl l .. lfpl·liv1'ly.
Let family members in ERs
A critical inquiry into the operational
structure of the museum must be under
taken now because business cannot go on
as usual.
•
Clearly, as usual is not good enough.
The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity
Westf'rn civili7alion hrrs hOlh pf'rmitlcd
1111<1 "lIlh.... 'II . l'l'ovhllll/-: p,'ol>h ' wllh III<'
opportunlly 10 Ir'am "houl Ih,' Shllah 1111<1
its crucial lessons is far too important a
purpose for the museum to be the target of
such mudslinging.
Deborah Dwork
Rose professor of Holocaust history
DiI'PClor. IPnlpr (or "olor~lIsl SllIrlips
"llI f lt Ilulv, ·rsHy, Wun'l'slc'r, MII:"l."i.
II .. Pfl.t> lpCllwd IIIf' 1rip In WlIshlllHllJ1I
wll"11 il "" " '"11" d"1I1' Ihal Ih,' s,'curity
Council in New York would be considering
at the same time a resolution endorsing his
agreement with Iraq, and he needed to be
at U.N. headquarters for those council ses
sions.
Certainly, questions have been raised by
some in Washington ' about the memoran
dum of understandipg signed in Baghdad,
but the secretary.general would have been
ready and willing to discuss what he feels
is a solid agreement
The secretary-general plans to resched
ule his trip to Washington at an early op
portunity.
Joe Sills, director
UN. Information Center
Washington, D.C.
To comment,.,
We welcome your comments on editorials.
olhnr IO(lies in USA TODAY or on
colllmn~ .
IUIY !-;" llllu:I:. 1IIIIMUIIIlIII{) yeHI . Only IUllnrs tl1I11
IIh;Juuu IIIIIIIU , lIutlrtr.i5 urxl day and uvoning
phone numbers, and that are verified by USA.
TODAY, can be considered for publication.
Send e-mail tOedilor@usatoday.com. Fax
703-247-31 DB. Mail Letters to the Editor 10
1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Va. 22229. Let
ters and articles submitted to USA TODAY
I1Iny h" puillirll 'lf"ld
fit
dlnlrllllilod ill prllll , oint ;
HOIlIt: UI olhlll hllll1:.
Dairy fanners deserve return on investment ofmoney; labor and time
USA TODAY 's editorial about the tlairy
We were simply asking for a minimum
program raising consumer prices is with wage, so to speak, for our dairy farmers.
out merit ("Dairy programs jack up prices, Glickman initiated movement in that di
hurt consumers: Our View, Debate, Mon rection so we may stem the downward spi
ral of this industry.
day). Contrary to the tone of the editorial,
dairy farmers are not attempting to gild
The Northeast Dairy Compact imple
the lily and make huge proflts based on mented last year has allowed dairy pro
government payments for their milk.
ducers to sell milk at a profit and not raise
Dairy farmers from North carolina to
the price of milk to consumers.
California are merely attempting to stay in
As Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, so aptly
business by providing a fresh supply of stated in his response, the price increases
wholesome milk and milk products to an
for milk in the past two decades have
increasing population in the United States. . come after the milk leaves the farm, leav
North Carolina has lost more dairies in the ing the farmer with less money when infla
past 10 years than we have left, due to de tion is factored than before ("Keep price
creasing prices for raw milk combined . protections;' Opposing View) .
with increased production and environ
The bigger picture, however, is the over
mental costs.
all demise of the dairy farmer across our
We pushed Agriculture Secretary Dan country. Milk, like every other food com
Glickman for a minimum price floor for modity, is produced by an American farm
raw milk long before national auention er who's willing to get up at 4 a.m., seven
was drawn to the industry through legal
days a week, to milk cows so we can have
proceedings.
a stable supply of fresh milk on our tables.
Is il so unrc:lsllnable 10 ask thai oolry
farmers realize a modest return for their
investment of capital, labor and time?
Commissioners and directors of all 50
state departments of agriculture and rep
resentatives from Puerto Rico and the Vir
gin Islands all had the chance to visit Mon
day with Glickman as he addressed a
meeting of the National Association of
State Departments of Agriculture in Wash
ington. He freely admitted that the dairy
issue was the most crucial issue facing
American agriculture today.
And he pledged his support to help us
flnd a. workable solution.
Your condemnation of the struggle to re
sol ve the issue helps no one and biases
your readership to oppose any help our
dairy farmers may receive.
James A. Graham
Commissioner of agriculture
State of North Carolina
Raleigh, N.C.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Bruce Reed - Education Series
Creator
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Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36312" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Description
An account of the resource
Bruce Reed's Education Series include material pertaining to national standards and testing; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the 1999 efforts to reauthorize the Act; 100,000 teachers and class size; charter schools and vouchers; education events and forums; social promotion; Goals 2000; HOPE Scholarships; Pell Grants; the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (Ed-flex); education funding and budgets; and various school and teacher issues. The files contain correspondence, reports and articles, memos, polls, handwritten notes, hard copies of emails, schedules, printed material, and memos to the President.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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133 folders in 9 boxes
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Paper
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Business
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Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 88
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Reed-Education-finding-aid.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Reproduction-Reference
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3/7/2011
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647429-business
647429