Change or die: Michigan's education system is failing students and taxpayers

When I was a boy, I learned you had to pull up the anchor if you wanted to set sail. It seems many in Lansing never learned this lesson.

The foundation on which our schools have been built has disappeared. Raising taxes to perpetuate the failed status quo is insanity. It is the equivalent of trying to set sail without pulling up anchor.

Today's economic crisis should provide the impetus to innovate and change.

Let's get radical

If we are to thrive and not mearly survive in this century, we must be willing to ask: what of the impossible isn't?

How radical should we be? Here are a few examples:

â€¢ Eliminate the senior year of high school. For far too many of our students, the 12th grade has become nothing more than state subsidized dating. Our children clearly have matured at a faster pace, and technological advances have accelerated learning and knowledge exponentially. With the state investing more than a billion dollars per grade in K-12 education, these are resources that could be redirected to our community colleges and universities with a far better outcome for the individual and state.

â€¢ Where is it ordained that a college degree must take 4 years of study Could the same amount of knowledge be acquired in 3 years? Slicing a year off an undergraduate degree would save students time and money and can be done without sacrificing quality. Such noted universities as Cambridge and Oxford offer 3-year degrees.

â€¢ Maximize technology and limited resources in our system of higher education by making the equivalent of one year of the basic freshmen or sophomore instruction be offered via e-learning. The courses would be taught by specially certified e-learning instructors hence reducing the need to expand campus infrastructure and personnel cost.

* Pretend the beautiful peninsulas called Michigan were just discovered with 1.7 million K-12 school-age children and over $12 billion dollars to educate them to world-class standards. Would any thinking person create the system that currently exists? Take action to consolidate school districts in ways to maximize the redirection of resources to the classroom.

â€¢ Use market forces to steer students to high-demand fields such as math, science and technology. All education is valuable - some education is more valuable than other education. Currently, we are producing more college grads in fields in low or virtually no demand while high-demand fields cannot find native born students to fill available jobs. The taxpayers of Michigan are subsidizing this inefficiency. Suggest those that majors in high demand fields have their tuition cut in half while those majoring in low-demand fields pay one and one-half the going tuition rate.

Change or die

Clearly, these are unorthodox ideas that under scrutiny, may or may not be solid policy prescriptions for what ails Michigan. However, I do know that our current course is as unwise and unstable as it is unsustainable.

Perpetuating the status quo will not make us competitive in a 21st century, innovation- and knowledge-based economy where ideas and work can and do move around the globe effortlessly. As Michigan fiddles, other states and nations are moving forward.

Real change in Michigan is going to require - real change. It is time we lift anchor and boldly set sail for the future.

Tom Watkins is an education and business consultant in the United States and China. He was Michigan state superintendent of schools from 2001-2005 and mental health director from 1986-1990. He can be reached at: tdwatkins@aol.com.