Will there be jobs for our children?

Americans always have battled over public schools. Back in the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson grandly said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

He proposed a universal system of sorts, one that would allow the brighter young boys to rise to the top, while the remainder, "the rubbish," in his words, would be left behind.

In the 19th century, the biggest battles were over the use of the Bible in public schools. In the 20th, we went through a variety of debates over approaches to learning, science content and then overcoming "a rising tide of mediocrity."

Today the battle is over standards, federal involvement and fairness.

By now, we should accept the idea that education policy will be controversial. The prime reason is that it is so important.

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was in Delaware last week to praise the state's efforts under the Obama Administration's Race to the Top program. Let us leave aside the controversies around the program and consider points made by both Secretary Duncan and Gov. Markell.

The secretary, in discussing the idea of raising academic standards told a sobering story. He noted that the approach to schooling taken by Massachusetts is generally considered the soundest and most forward thinking in the country. Massachusetts set what are perhaps the toughest academic standards many years ago. It performance in national and international tests dropped at first. Then it slowly climbed. Today Massachusetts is at the top of every list.

However, Duncan pointed out, even being at the top in every rated category does not mean it is good enough. He said America's parents should understand that even with the toughest standards, roughly 30 percent of that state's students who go to college still must take remedial courses.

If Massachusetts is that bad, how bad are other states?

Gov. Markell made a similar point. As he has said on many occasions, Delaware's students are not just competing with students from New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania. They are competing with students from around the world. And we are losing.

Parents should think beyond Delaware. That is where the jobs are going. "Parents here don't see the jobs postings in India, Poland and Germany. If they did, they would ask where are the jobs posting for our children here."

Too many parents are not worried about the quality of our education system because they do not see tomorrow's jobs slipping away.

When they realize that there will be too few good-paying jobs for Delaware's kids, it will be too late.

Consider Thomas Jefferson's comment again. And ask, are we expecting "what never was and never will be"?