Way back in the 1970's, US automobile manufacturers were just beginning to feel the competition from Japan. One of the most dramatic results of that competition was a completely new understanding of product quality. Up until the mid-seventies, US auto makers depended upon final inspection to catch problems in their cars, and rework at the end of the assembly line to correct those problems. The Japanese competitors had learned that quality is the result of the complete system of production, and had developed ways to improve the production system to eliminate quality problems. Detroit had a lot of catching up to do before overall quality became comparable to the Japanese imports.

Today, we are seeing the emergence of alternatives to public schools--private schools, charter schools, and home education. We also see many public education systems embracing high-stakes testing, but refusing to make fundamental changes in the process of education. Public education is behaving exactly like Detroit's automakers in the 1970's--inspecting quality in at the end of the process. And they will have exactly the same results. W. Edwards Deming taught us that if people try hard but get bad results, the problem is in the system, not in the people. High stakes testing is little more than an excuse to punish the innocent, while making it appear that those in charge are "doing something."

What is needed is fundamental change in public education, grounded in an admission that learning is a transaction in which the learner is in control. You cannot force a child to learn, and fear is at best a poor motivator. Public education will continue to falter and fail if it is based on coercion, threats of sanctions, and fear of reprisals. We need fewer administrators and more teachers. We need fewer administrative burdens on teachers, and more flexibility so teachers can cater to student interests. We need fewer curriculum requirements, and more opportunity for students to pursue their own interests. But most of all, we need to rid public education of the idea that an individual teacher can simultaneously serve the roles of teacher and parent to 25 children. That idea, more than anything else, is destroying what once was a great system of public education, and the foundation for the tremendous economic successes we have enjoyed in the latter half of this century.