| Where We Stand: A Conversation with Ron Thorpe, Part 2 |
 Nothing less than America’s place on the world stage is at stake unless our approach to our children’s lives and education dramatically alters. Without systemic changes, the global political and economic power base will shift from the U.S. to other countries. And if that happens, it will be too late to do anything about it. That’s the opinion of Ron Thorpe, Vice President and Director of Education at New York’s Thirteen/WNET, America's most-watched public television station. Thorpe also is Executive Producer for "Where We Stand: America's Schools in the 21st Century," which examined the state of our schools and our ability to prepare our students to compete in a global economy. It focuses on U.S. schools but also looks at China and Finland for comparisons and contrasts The documentary aired Sept. 15 and is available for streaming on www.pbs.org.
Title: Vice President and Director of Education, Thirteen/WNET Education: Ed.D. and Ed.M., Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Harvard Graduate School of Education Q: Your PBS documentary paints a picture of an education system falling alarmingly behind other countries. What is required for the U.S. to successfully address this? A: The country needs to respond to our situation in schools exactly the same way that we responded to the Russian launch of Sputnik. It is not a matter of our schools getting worse in the last 25 years. It’s a matter of the rest of the world getting ahead of us. We have to get moving. It’s not about whether teachers are doing a bad job, or administrators are terrible, or unions are hampering the work place, it’s about coming together as a country to have to realize that we have to move forward in our schools. Q: What are we risking if we don’t take action? A: What’s at stake here is that this could be the first generation of American children to have a lower standard of living than their parents, and that shakes the central tenet of the American dream. I don’t think we as a country want that to happen or are ready for it to happen. Q: What is the first step on the road to change? A: The first thing we have to have is a leader who is willing to make a strong statement about where we want to be. Then we need a comprehensive response that can’t just be on the shoulders of schools. It has to include the health care system, universities, k-12, communities, business, and all sectors of our society. In Finland, children don’t start school until they are seven. They have universal daycare and health care. I’m not saying we have to be like Finland. We have to be who we are, but the children deserve the same results in the end. Q: With elections coming up, how are the politicians are doing in this regard? A: The situation is worrisome in that the political candidates at the national level are not talking about education. We’re hoping that our program is promoting conversations among citizens so that they push their candidates at the state and national level to say where they stand on education. Q: Looking ahead ten years, what is the worst-case scenario for U.S. education? A: The world’s dynamics are dramatically changing because of technology and the flat world. We haven’t begun to re-imagine our schools so that our students are prepared for that new world. The worst-case scenario is that the economic and political power base in the world will shift elsewhere. We need to invest in our people to keep that balance here. Q: And, more optimistically, what is the best-case scenario? A: The best-case scenario is that we as a country will mobilize around this the way we have so many times in our history—and I hope that that spirit still resides in the American people.
 Sheila Riley
is a San Francisco-based freelance journalist. She is also an
experienced online editor and ESL curriculum developer, and teaches ESL
at City College of San Francisco.POSTED ON HOTCHALK.COM
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (0)
 Write comment
            |
Name: Ron Thorpe
Subscribe to this comment's feed
