ABSTRACT
Americans are increasingly alarmed over our nation’s educational deficiencies, and though bewailing schooling, especially public ones, is unending, these tribulations are real. National cognitive talent levels may initially appear permanent or at least beyond manipulation. The National Education Association, the largest union of K-12 educators, is hardly a disinterested party when dissecting the impact of union rules on test scores. Educators and a gullible public seem ever willing to spend lavishly though progress fails to arrive. With relatively few exceptions, Americans refuse to look in the mirror and confess personal responsibility. Both schooling and dieting reflect a common mind-set: spend generously to minimize painful exertion so fortunes await pundits promising easy alternatives to a strenuous regimen. Revising America’s immigration standards could dramatically improve our school populations. Even without touching the hot-button immigration issue, America’s schools could be intellectually upgraded by encouraging academically overwhelmed students to depart voluntarily after 8th grade or pursue more economically-useful vocational training in proprietary schools.
