We seem to have reached a point where everyone agrees that our health care system is in need of drastic reform. What we can’t seem to reach agreement on is which bureaucracy should be in charge. There are legislators representing the oligopoly known as the Insurance Industry using the FUD factor (fear, uncertainty and doubt) to claim that a government-run health care system would “put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions that should be made by families and doctors” and “lead to rationed care”. (Quotes are from Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana in the Republican radio and Internet message.)

“Put bureaucrats in charge”?!?!?! How is this any different from what we have now? We currently have a bureaucracy making health care decisions FOR PROFIT, not based on creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people. That’s how Americans spend more on health care and get worse results than countries which have adopted a single-payer system. It is how inefficiencies run rampant, because those who cannot afford private medical insurance get their treatment in Emergency Rooms, the most expensive way to handle minor illnesses and injuries.

Yes, your taxes will go up if the government takes over health care. But you insurance bill will GO AWAY! You won’t have to make employment decisions based on fear of losing health care coverage. Small businesses, the engines of economic growth, won’t have to decide between cutting health care or cutting jobs. Are you really that enamored of insurance company profits to think that is a bad trade?

Arne Duncan, the new Education Secretary, is currently “on tour” to get input on reworking the No Child Left Behind education law. I see two basic flaws with the concepts in that law.

First of all, it assumes that standardized tests can measure education. There is only one test that matters for our public schools, and it is measured student by student, not with statistics. Did that student make it all the way through to graduating from high school and after graduating is that student ready to proceed either to college or to the workplace?

Spending 2-3 weeks per year taking standardized tests or sitting in busywork sessions because a large percentage of the school is taking standardized tests does nothing to educate anyone. Piling the stress on both our students and teachers does nothing to educate anyone. A test that the student never gets back to see what questions were answered incorrectly, so that the correct answer is learned, educates no one.

The second flawed assumption in No Child Left Behind is that fixing the mechanics of the education process will fix the problem. As shown by the fact that the “successes” recorded under the law fade as the grade level goes up, education is not rote memorization of a particular set of trivia needed to pass a test. Education is a process that continues for a lifetime. Grades K-12 exist as training so that you can continue that process on your own after that. A 25% high school dropout rate shows our system is failing miserably in that regard.

Yes, we have a problem in our schools, but that problem is a direct reflection of a problem in our society. When I was growing up, “intellectual” was not an insult, and even though Joe SixPack was a loser, not a hero, he wanted his kids to grow up with a better education than he had so they would have a better job than he had. Anyone could grow up to be President, if you were the smartest kid in the class. Nobody asked “Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” Even candidates you would never in a million years vote for could not be called village idiots. Somewhere along the way, National Pride became National Arrogance, and the decline of our education system is the one symptom we seem to be willing to acknowledge publicly.

The trouble is, we are calling it a cause instead of a symptom. If we don’t define the problem correctly, solving it will only happen by accident. It’s not just educational standards that need to be raised; it is the standard of personal responsibility and pride in putting forth your best effort every day that needs to be restored.

The current incarnation of “No Child Left Behind” is guaranteed to fail us just on its face. “Adequate Yearly Progress” is not something to celebrate. If we only strive for Cs and Ds, our children will no longer be able to compete in a worldwide talent market with countries who push for As.