Challenges to Teacher Education

Overview & Synopsis

Today, American education faces a crisis. It is not too extreme to say that public education hangs in the balance. Anyone who has read the history of American education knows that there have always been critics. But they did not want public education dismantled. They wanted it to be better. Today, however, there are critics who believe that public education itself is obsolete. The latest manifestation of this view can be seen in a report released in December 2006 called "Tough Choices or Tough Times" (National Center on Education and the Economy, 2006). It came from a group called the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. The commission says that the public school system is obsolete and the teachers are not coming from the right strata of society. The most outrageous proposal of the commission is that in the future, all public schools should be turned over to private managers. In this article, the author contends that the recommendation for universal privatization is irresponsible and the move to privatize every public school has frightening implications. Public schools are not a private good. They are not like shoes or soap or cars, where people shop around to find the best thing at the lowest price. Schools are a public good. There must be a good public school in every neighborhood. Challenges for teacher education today are discussed.