Comments on: Knowledge Is Power — But Only When You Have Choices

By: John Payne

John Payne — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:56:06 +0000

Of course you and most other parents don’t know about teacher quality under the current system; collecting that information is costly and has next to no benefit because there is no choice. This is a classic example of what economists call rational ignorance. If the government provided automobiles and assigned people to them by random lottery, no one would research which car was the best because that knowledge would have no impact on the car they received. However, people do typically research and test drive cars before buying them because they can use that information in the market to determine which car they buy. The same would be true of education if people were allowed to choose which teachers instructed their children.

By: dempster holland

dempster holland — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:01:47 +0000

I put five children through public and parochial schools. But I had no idea–besides rumor–of which teachers in the next grade up were good or bad. That is why we hire principals. The idea that schools can act like the free market for corn or cotton is one of the dumbest ideas conservatives have come up with. I have always thought it was ultimately designed to pay off catholic voters who vote republican: “we are not going to stop abortion, but we will find some way to pay for your parochial schools”

By: John Payne

John Payne — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:23:05 +0000

This is specifically about elementary school teachers, so I think this problem is solved in most cases at that level by the parents making the selection. I’m sure some parents just want to see A’s on the report card regardless of actual learning, but I think they are far outnumbered by parents who want to see their children work for a decent education.

This certainly becomes a problem at higher levels with students making more decisions for themselves and opting for the path of least resistance. Grade inflation is a huge problem at both the high school and collegiate levels, but nonetheless, our college system, which has the most choice by far of all our educational systems, remains one of the best in the world. Clearly there are ways for colleges to differentiate between those professors who just hand out A’s like party favors and those who earn good student reviews through good teaching.

By: Papillon

Papillon — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:07:51 +0000

Would the sought after teachers be the easy graders who don’t ask much of the students or the good purveyors of knowledge who grade rather unforgivingly? ‘Deisirable’ and ‘good’ are not the same thing, as Socrates once pointed out [I knew that dialogue would come in handy sometime]. I see a mix and it isn’t black and white.

Who wants a tough grader when you are trying to get into a upper tier college? Especially as some colleges are giving less weight to the SAT/ACT.