Recently the Florida Supreme Court ruled against the state’s school voucher program. In particular, against the legality of using taxpayer dollars to send children from ‘failing’ schools to religious private institutions. The Florida program is remarkably similar to the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act. Both use standardized testing to determine the overall quality of a public school. Students of the most poorly performing ones are able to transfer to charter or private schools. The failing schools are ultimately faced with the choice of shaping up or closing down.

The reasoning behind these programs has recently come under question. A report harvested from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that charter schools typically underperformed public schools in both reading and mathematics. This grading is also based on statistical study of standardized test scores.

The productivity of this nation’s educational system has been in steady decline for decades. Politicians and administrators have been implementing programs to reverse the trend for just as long; No Child Left Behind is merely the most recent try. Their failure is not because of particulars — better planning or a better plan wouldn’t have made significant difference. The inadequacy of programs such as these is that they are essentially reactive. These programs see low scores and drag their feet against it. They try to stop momentum in one direction; instead we should try to start it in the other.

Why have test scores become the litmus test for the quality of our children’s education? When did parents stop checking homework and conferencing regularly with teachers to check progress? State administrators can send a child to a different school but they can’t make sure each child finishes their assignments. Tests can tell you how far behind a child is but can’t help them learn what they don’t understand.

Education does not need a new reform program, it needs new ideas. Public school curriculums have become increasingly regulated and homogenized over the past few decades. Grade school textbooks are full of trivia that wastes valuable time. When will diagramming a sentence ever come in handy for these kids? I suggest that children do not all need to learn the same things. Kids learn better when the material is closer customized to their interests and abilities.

Charter schools are a one new idea that attempts to bring this administration closer to our children. By allowing the school freedom of self-determination, faculty can make up close and personal curriculum decisions that would be impossible under state-wide regulation. Lets not allow problematic voucher programs to overshadow this innovation. We need to give this new idea a chance to work, rather than impatiently reacting to one year’s worth of statistics.

Every child deserves a great teacher. Our students need the most qualified teachers and incentive for our best minds to become teachers simply isn’t there. This is the premise of John Kerry’s new idea, the creation of a federally funded Teacher Corps. The teacher corps would pay college tuition for those willing to spend four years teaching in schools where many are reluctant to work. Much like the Peace Corps, the teacher corps would also make it possible for mid-career professionals to serve a year or more teaching in schools.

As long as politicians continue to culture these effectless education reform programs, the symptoms will continue to worsen. Our nation had begun an intellectual revolution with generation X. We need to learn from what worked then and find new ideas for what will work tomorrow. Otherwise at our current rate of decline we’re destined to get stuck in our own self-importance while the rest of the world grows up.