SIDEBAR:

This morning, the New York Times carried a story about Credit Recovery, a program which allows high school students to graduate even though they've hardly attended classes. Three essays were all it took for one student, quoted in the article, to acquire enough credits to attain his diploma and stand alongside students who'd attended classes the whole year. The Schools Chancellor calls this a "legitimate and important strategy," and promises "If credit recovery isn't conducted properly, just as with any other required course we will take appropriate action." Uh huh. What does "properly" mean? Like the Klein Laws that govern the Rubber Rooms it means whatever Klein wants it to mean, because city officials admit that "credit recovery programs are neither centrally monitored nor tracked." But Klein, being a law unto himself, doesn't need all that to take "appropriate action." How do we know? Because he said so.

If three essays are a true assessment of the abilities of high school students, why are we forcing other students to spend months attending clasess, doing homework, taking tests? Set these students free. Let's use this legitimate and important strategy to relieve all students of the arduous strain of a full school year. Let them come in and do ten hours of of essay writing instead. Hey, if it works, it works.

I blame this whole mess on the fact that Klein doesn't know anything about education. And most of the people he's brought in to help him exert his ignorance with impunity aren't educators either. The wrong people have taken over the system. Sort of like what happened when Wolfowitz and Cheney shared a Think Tank together and had an epiphany: Attack Iraq and save the Middle East. They had to wait for 9/11, and a president who would listen and share their vision. Bush was their man, and then in came Rumsfeld. Although not one of these men had any military training, or any real knowledge of the region, they made the decisions for a war that we're still fighting. Intelligence without true knowledge is no better than stupidity. Klein should've educated himself first before attempting to educate others. Or maybe he spent ten hours writing three essays and thought that gave him all the knowledge he needed.