May 16, 2011

Taj Mahal Schools

By Robert Weissberg
There's an old joke about a policeman around midnight spotting a drunk crawling around a lamp post. When asked what he was doing, the drunk replied "looking for my lost car keys." "Where did you lose them," asked the police officer? "Over there," said the drunk pointing off into the dark." "Then why look here," asked the cop? "Because there's more light here," answered the intoxicated gentleman.Alas, like the drunk looking around the lamp post, would-be educational reformers have transformed "improving education" to the much easier "just spend more money," and if that fails, just spend even more. The results will be identical -- no car keys and no academic improvement. The latest installment of this expensive misguided endeavor is a $100 million dollar school located in New York City's largely black Harlem targeting under-performing students. Taxpayers will pick up part of the $100 million bill and the rest...(Read Full Article)