'We're In a Hole'

On Saturday the New York Times columnist and renowned author Thomas L. Friedman wrote in his column that the Education Department is the ‘epicenter of national security’. A change, he notes from the late 80’s when, as the cold war was ending, that would have been the State Department.

Why, you might ask, is education reform the hot beat for columnists and reporters? As Friedman makes clear – it’s because we’ve been being out-educated for a long time and these very same countries are/will be out-competing us as well. According to his column, “The good news is that cities, states and the federal government are all fighting back. But have no illusions. We’re in a hole.” Friedman goes on to quote secretary of education, Arne Duncan, “Other folks have passed us by, and we’re paying a huge price for that economically. Incremental change isn’t going to get us where we need to go.”

Passed us by, in a hole, failed… these are just a few of the disturbing words that are being used to describe our current educational outcomes in the US, where some 75% of young Americans under the age of 24 do not meet the minimum requirements for military enlistment (have dropped out, have criminal history or are physically unfit). Arne Duncan’s response? “We’ve got to be much more ambitious. We’ve got to be disruptive. You can’t keep doing the same stuff and expect different results.”

Disruptive innovations, according to the website 12MANAGE, either creates new market or takes root among an incumbent’s worst customers – and “competes at the low end of an established market”. Often times, established companies see the disruption but do nothing until it is too late.

So … I draw your attention to charter schools as a disruptive innovation in the field of K-12 education. Charter schools are creating new markets and/or taking root with students in areas that are underserved. Do you see the parallels? The traditional public system is continuing down a path to sustain what they are/have been doing according to the Disruptive Innovation model (Clayton M. Christensen). Meanwhile successful charter schools will continue to find market share by positioning themselves where they can create value in a vacuum of performance.

My opinion - and I welcome yours as well – is that the public school system would do well to work within itself to create disruptive innovation, incorporate charter schools and/or their concepts into their ‘menu of choice’ and use all the tools we have to answer the call to educate our youth for the sake of our national security, our economic security and our future.