(published November 2015)
Ronald Reagan, addressing a controversial issue: The solution is not complex. It's simple. But not easy.
How 'bout them "educational gap" problems, huh? Fortunately, they constitute a subject upon which I am, modestly, an expert. It's because I am blessed with an impregnable data base and an impeccable statistical model. Namely, those of your humble author's personal experience.
Back in the day, U.K. kids coming out of Elementary School at age 10 to 11, were required to take a national exam (the notorious "11 plus"). The results determined which 15% to 20% brainy elites would transfer to "Grammar" (i.e. High) Schools to be groomed for potential college entrance at age 18. The failures defaulted to "Secondary Modern" Schools, where they would be stored to age 16 for whatever eventually came along.
The neighborhood in which I lived was considered "lower middle class"---a slight cut above "dirt poor" in the British class caste structure. There were around 110 homes on our street, most with children. Adding those kids in my age group to those who had taken the 11 plus exam during the previous five years meant that a total of about 100 kids on our street had been through the grinder during that period. Of these, only six (mostly in my cohort) made it onto the elite track. Of the six, only two were accepted into the University system, and only one of those went on to obtain a higher degree.
Why did only two of us make it to the Promised Land? Well, I can't speak for the other guy, but my breakthrough was due to my Dad. His obsessive motivation was derived from the fact that, as a child, he was dirt poor; he qualified for Grammar School but my grandparents couldn't even afford the required bus fare to get him there and back. Hence, he left school at 14 and got a job to supplement the meager family income. As a result, my inheritance was that, when the local kids were playing street soccer or out making mischief somewhere, I was hitting the books at his insistence. But, in time, all the hard work paid off.
Ta-da! Problem solved. All we have to do to close our educational gap is to catalyze family support behind the children and reinforce their need to advance via a solid dedication to the cause. Admittedly, this solution might involve a soupcon of challenge because it's a "what." Commonly, deciding what we need to do about any situation can generate bushels of ideas. But, when it comes to the "how" (as in, how are we going to do it?), simple pragmatics can often cause the wheels to come off the "what" in a hurry.
A topical example: In a recent essay, syndicated columnist Eugene Robinson---presidential sycophant extraordinaire---publicly wet his pants extolling the accomplishments of the six years plus of Obama's administration. While we might take issue with details of Robinson's hagiographic slobber, his thesis collapses because it consists solely of "whats." History will judge Obama's abysmal failure as leader of this country not necessarily by his "whats," but, more importantly, by the deviant, constitutionally-undermining "hows" that are his stock in trade.
And yes, I admit to solving the educational gap problem by taking a single positive example and extrapolating it to the whole universe. I plead not guilty as this technique is a required staple of political journalism. To illustrate: In a recent column, leftie Leonard Pitts stereotypically exploited the headline story of the 14 year old boy who took a modified clock to school and, because it looked like a bomb, promptly got arrested. From this one silly incident, Pitts divined that the whole of the U.S. is a nation of dastardly, sinister fear-mongers.
If widely-read Progressive columnists can use these transparently devious devices to make their points, then so can every red-blooded Republican! Ergo, on that note, I rest my case and suggest that, based on my success here, readers keep an eye on this space for a future column on How To Achieve World Peace Without Really Trying.
