Former New York City chancellor of education Joel Klein says the U.S. school system needs a serious makeover, and he has some strong opinions about how it should be done.
In a HuffPost Live interview on Monday, Klein shared his thoughts on the best ways to reform education, starting with the perception of teaching as a profession.
“Let’s make teaching like lawyers and like doctors — a well-respected profession. Let’s really get really top-notch people going into the profession,” he told hostNancy Redd.
The Lessons Of Hope author also suggested the implementation of a stringent “national bar exam” to hold teachers to higher standards — standards that he said should come with a better paycheck as well.
“Let’s pay teachers a lot more for great work. Not just pay them across the board, but those that are really great,” he said.
Klein, who has touted charter schools as a means to help children from low-income families access a quality education without location-based constraints, stressed the importance of choice in a child’s education.
“Choice just can’t be a thing for the middle-class communities and the wealthy, who go to private schools or move into the neighborhoods with great schools,” he said. “Give [students] a range of schools they can go to and let them pick them. … Why should poor people be told, ‘You only get one shot?’”
Watch the full HuffPost Live interview with Joel Klein here.
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