A few years ago, our friends at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) observed much the same kind of thing going on at public universities. Specifically, FIRE observed that the legislature of the state of Idaho was trying to do something about getting the state university faculty to teach the kind of content they were pa…
A few years ago, our friends at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) observed much the same kind of thing going on at public universities. Specifically, FIRE observed that the legislature of the state of Idaho was trying to do something about getting the state university faculty to teach the kind of content they were paid to teach--how to solve differential equations and such--rather than substitute such content with explicitly ideological content.
FIRE complained that such legislative initiative amounted to suppressing the free speech of the faculty. Hmm...
The legislature might have perceived the matter as a Principal-Agent problem: A principal hires an agent to do something. How does the principal give the agent incentives to actually engage earnest efforts in doing that something as opposed to, say, diverting efforts to other activity?
It's a tricky problem, and maybe the economical solution would involve some amount of (unavoidably) costly and messy monitoring. Or, a solution might involve testing: Can students solve basic math problems? Can they read?
Of course, testing has been implemented for at least 30 years, but it seems that the testing regime has been defeated. (Has it?) Kids' performance have not improved on standardized exams, and yet states spend more and more per student--with all the money going in to supporting more and more administrative bloat since at least 2000.
Perhaps implementing "school choice" really would help, and perhaps home schooling will continue to expand.
A few years ago, our friends at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) observed much the same kind of thing going on at public universities. Specifically, FIRE observed that the legislature of the state of Idaho was trying to do something about getting the state university faculty to teach the kind of content they were paid to teach--how to solve differential equations and such--rather than substitute such content with explicitly ideological content.
FIRE complained that such legislative initiative amounted to suppressing the free speech of the faculty. Hmm...
The legislature might have perceived the matter as a Principal-Agent problem: A principal hires an agent to do something. How does the principal give the agent incentives to actually engage earnest efforts in doing that something as opposed to, say, diverting efforts to other activity?
It's a tricky problem, and maybe the economical solution would involve some amount of (unavoidably) costly and messy monitoring. Or, a solution might involve testing: Can students solve basic math problems? Can they read?
Of course, testing has been implemented for at least 30 years, but it seems that the testing regime has been defeated. (Has it?) Kids' performance have not improved on standardized exams, and yet states spend more and more per student--with all the money going in to supporting more and more administrative bloat since at least 2000.
Perhaps implementing "school choice" really would help, and perhaps home schooling will continue to expand.