(Part three of a five-part series on education)

   HOUSTON — After trying for laughs in Hollywood nightclubs, game shows and the Latino comedy TV circuit, comedian Ernie G. got a chance to make some staid business and government types chuckle at a National Council of La Raza conference a few years ago. He told them how he got to college. His message: "Nowadays, you got to go to college, especially if you want a nice ride." Today, it’s a TV spot for community college recruiting.

   Addressing present realities is the antidote to decades of scary policy papers forecasting economic doom and decrying student attitudes. Glum talk is virtually a light industry in education circles. Yet rarely has anyone come up with a comprehensive plan to do what’s needed.

   Rarely. That is until Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.

   Unlike other policy reports, its focus is not a complaint and half-measures, as if Archie Bunker headed a think-tank. Instead, it lays out a scenario about how to make things right.

   For instance, unlike a number of countries, ours does not assume students are college-ready at 16. “So let’s start out assuming that we can match or even exceed their performance,” this report says. And it outlines a redesign plotting how that can be done.

   The report is not a prescription for stumbling around reinventing students. Rather, it redesigns the system so it has the look and feel of the future.

   The commission came up with its prescription by working its way back from the goal, as smooth as a Michael Jackson moonwalk, with an eye to how 95 percent of students can meet, without remediation, community college entrance standards.

   Some people can show the aptitude for college-level work at 16 through an exam. Those who don’t can have another chance (or as many as they need) to become college eligible. Those who take the community-college avenue conceivably can begin their four-year college work later at the junior level. (Details about the redesign can be found at www.skillscommission.org/executive.htm).

   Defenders of the current system will say that some school districts already have something like it and have a hissy fit insisting this is no magic bullet.

   The report has ten steps, each worthy of consideration for implementation. These can save $60 billion because the new system virtually eliminates dropouts, redundancy, and ineffectiveness. The savings can be redeployed to recruit and train a new teaching force, coming from the top third of high-school students going to college, high-quality early childhood education, and providing disadvantaged students with needed resources to meet international standards.

   Teachers would be very well paid. In return they would meet rigorous new teacher licensing by the state. Hired by districts, they would be encouraged to form professional organizations the way law, architecture and doctor partnerships work to provide their services.

   The old system of education, intended for a disappearing industrial economy, required relatively low-level literacy to do mechanical, often repetitive, work. But the science and math information age is a natural world niche for the United States, producing high-quality goods and services that result from highly educated workers, who are trained for creativity and innovation.

   From the point of view of those who want to stay in the 19th century’s little red school house, here’s the rub. The system of school districts becomes that of writing performance contracts with independent “contract schools” funded by the state, monitoring them, and assuring they meet performance standards. The new schools could be operated by teacher colleges, for-profit and non-profit organizations, and teacher collaboratives.

   Apologists ran out of gas long ago tinkering with the old system’s carburetor and incremental changes.  The engine stalled out, especially with so-called “minority” students in low-performing schools who are becoming the new majorities. The small gains made during the past decade have slowed. The old system is the wrong vehicle for our times.

   That’s why it makes sense that comedian Ernie G. would link going to college with a nice ride. Now a commission has provided an interesting vehicle for getting there.

   Next Week: Why consensus is forming for education redesign and what it should look like.

   [José de la Isla is a former assistant professor of education at the University of Oregon. His latest digital book, sponsored by The Ford Foundation, is available free at www.DayNightLifeDeathHope.com. He writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service and is author of The Rise of Hispanic Political Power (2003). E-mail him at [email protected].]

   © 2009