"Further Shock"

I  eagerly read Alvin Tofler's article "Edutopia."   However, I was shocked when he quoted Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates when asked what was the most pressing issue in public education.  He quoted Bill Gates stating,"We don't need to reform the system; we need to replace the system."   On October 4th Bill Gates and his wife were interviewed on MSNBC.  They were discussing their views on what education would look like in the future.  They stated that teachers will be replaced by robots.  Robots will be able to think and talk back to its students.    Robots and the use of future technology was not the shocker.  What was shocking to me was when the news reporter asked Mrs. Gates what educational system would work in the United States?  Mrs. Gates stated that we should duplicate Scandinavian countries because they are the model school system.  I  vividly remember all of us having this discussion in Professor Yun's policy class.   Scandinavian countries have the luxury of an homogenized society.  They don't deal with the plethora of cultures, ethnic groups, and languages that our school system experience everyday.    As a result, our school system is under constant pressure to perform under this era of accountability and reform.  In addition, our educational system must provide educational services to every group.   Maybe the problem with our educational system stems from our system of democracy whereby every group is grabbing a piece of the pie and there is not enough slices for everyone.

This bring me back to a statement by Dr. Judith Green, "Educational policies should be created by educators."  Bill Gates and his wife are perfect examples of why "laymen" should not be  creating educational policies.