Free Press – March 16, 2006

Presidential Blunders, Schools Yesterday Today, Bob Leight, Drop Out

Dear Friends,

Good morning. I was intrigued by a national story about the 10 worst presidential blunders in American history. Organized by the University of Louisville, a survey by presidential historians caught everyone’s attention.

Pennsylvania’s only President, James Buchanan, led the list. With the exception of Bill Clinton who ranked 10^th because of his sexual involvement with Monica Lewinsky, eight of the 10 worst blunders were related to war and foreign affairs.

I have concluded that with the exception of Richard Nixon and Watergate (which ranked fifth), war and sex have caused nothing but trouble for America. Men are too easily caught up in war and sex…we have too much testosterone. That’s why we need a female president. I prefer Condoleezza Rice to Hillary Clinton. Condoleezza is a concert pianist, speaks a foreign language fluently and has a fabulous separation between her two front teeth.

Consider these presidential blunders: first- Buchanan for failing to avert the Civil War; second- Andrew Johnson’s decision (just after the Civil War) to side with Southern whites and oppose improvements in justice for Southern blacks; third- Lyndon Johnson by allowing the Vietnam War to intensify; fourth- Woodrow Wilson’s refusal to compromise on the Treaty of Versailles after World War I (which set the stage for Britain and France to create countries which made no sense…most notably Iraq, Iran and Yugoslavia).

Fifth- Richard Nixon and Watergate; sixth- James Madison’s failure to keep America out of the War of 1812 with Britain; seventh- Thomas Jefferson’s Embargo Act of 1807, a self –imposed prohibition on trade with Europe during the Napoleonic Wars; eighth- John Kennedy allowing the Bay of Pigs Invasion that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis; ninth- Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair, the effort to sell arms to Iran and use the money to finance an armed anti-Communist group in Nicaragua; tenth- Clinton and Lewinsky (although the historians claim that it affected Clinton’s presidency more than it did American history).

So much for the past. I worry that World War III is approaching. And when it does, it will be a religious war between Christian and Moslem fanatics. George W. has unwittingly removed the cork from the genie’s bottle and there’s no way to put it back. Should both sides use nuclear bombs, the world may end. If so, historians won’t be able to write the final chapter dealing with the worst American President. George W. would undoubtedly lead that list. After all, who led us into what is becoming a religious civil war in Iraq?

And now to something pleasant.

Dr. Robert Light is a retired Lehigh University professor and a former Quakertown School Board member. He’s written books on area schools. No one knows more about local school history than Bob Leight. An interesting op-ed piece about the school scene in 1927 (Feb. 23) caught my eye.

I thought of him as I interviewed Lynn Greening who’s authored eight books about the 15 one-room schools in Tinicum Township. She plans to complete the history of the other four. Riding through the rural roads of Tinicum, fording streams, and passing through covered bridges was a charming experience….like heading down memory lane. In a week or so, I’ll tell you what I learned, thanks to Lynn Greening.

She and Bob Leight say correctly that the key to the success of the one room school was the teacher. These remarkable people kept eight grades of kids in rapt attention…sometimes as many as 40 children. Nothing has changed. If you have good teachers, anything is possible.

David Broder made that point in his op-ed piece (Feb. 27). He was reporting on America’s dropout epidemic. Broder says that 3.5 million drop out of American high schools…yearly! Dropouts earn an average $9,200 a year less than high school graduates, and have far greater likelihood of winding up on welfare, in prison or on drugs.

Broder witnessed a program in Oregon, which dealt with dropouts. “I quoted the leaders of the voluntary program,” he began, “in which [dropout] students accepted strict discipline, as believing it demonstrates that even for the hardest cases- teenagers with few credits, low grade-point averages and a host of personal problems- the challenge of a tough curriculum, backed by skillful teaching in small classes and plenty of personal counseling, can be a path to success.”

He also believes that raising the minimum age of 16 for school attendance, if accompanied by real support for the wavering students, would do a lot to end the silent [dropout] epidemic. Broder’s probably right.

You know the age old dilemma: The U.S. spends more per student than other industrialized countries do but our students don’t measure up to their Asian and European peers. Maybe class size is not as important a factor which educators would have us believe. For example, Asian countries have larger classrooms than we do.

But the quality of teaching is the most important factor. If I had a magic wand, I’d all but eliminate state educational bureaucracies. Because of unnecessary state rules, local schools spend too much of their resources on administration costs. America needs more high paid, high quality teachers. And we must find a way to rid our schools of teachers whose performance is lack luster.

As Harvard University’s former President, Derek Bok, once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith