Sunday, March 12, 2017

Can We Fix It?

Here is what I know: There are better versions of public education out there. I read all the time about countries that send their kids to school for two days a week and maintain test scores that easily overshadow those in the United States. These are also the countries that tend to shudder when they hear the phrase "standardized test." 
"We don't have standardized children. Why should we have standardized tests?" That's about the time I punch out and go to computer solitaire. 
I expect there are a lot of folks in Congress who are working on their Frecell games even as we speak. Not because they are stuck trying to figure out how to build a better public school here in America. They are stymied by the challenge of trying to deliver something that looks like universal health care. They want to replace the demon Obamacare with something better, faster, stronger. They can rebuild it. They have the technology.
Or do they? 
Our current "President" said, “It’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated.”
Okay, raise your hand if you knew that healthcare was complicated. One. Two. Three. Um, a lot. A lot of people knew that health care is complicated. That is why it took so long to get it close to right. Was the Affordable Care Act perfect? I don't expect that even President Affordable would argue that point. Web sites crash. Expenses that hadn't been accounted for crop up. Premiums rise. Oh there were problems, but there was a system.
Now there is a void. Finding a way to ensure insurance turns out to be a little more complex than complaining about a system that ensures insurance. It might days days. It might take months. It could take years. In the meantime, before you start driving that hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, you might want to hang onto that hybrid car you've been using up until now. Not because it's perfect, but because it gets you around. Forgive my metaphor if it's a little strained, but I am the product of public education, after all. 

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