President Obama’s “Fix-It-First” Program: Why We Need Modern Schools
In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night President Obama laid out a wide array of programs and initiatives including many in education. Most of them laudable and important, but I must confess one really got my attention. Roughly mid-way through his speech he proposed a Fix-it-First program, “to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs.” To get this done he is proposing a Partnership to Rebuild Americawhich would attract private capital to up-grade the country’s infrastructure including “modern schools worthy of our children.”
Granted infrastructure is not a sexy topic. Making schools safe, sunny and inviting does not inspire headlines. Compared to charter schools, the Common Core State Standards, or whether or not schools should teach creationism school construction sounds like a big yawn.
But consider this: A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that when they ranked the top 30 industrialized counties according to the well-being of children the United States
Granted infrastructure is not a sexy topic. Making schools safe, sunny and inviting does not inspire headlines. Compared to charter schools, the Common Core State Standards, or whether or not schools should teach creationism school construction sounds like a big yawn.
But consider this: A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that when they ranked the top 30 industrialized counties according to the well-being of children the United States