What We All Can Learn from the Community College System

The Model for an Effective Education Program is Already Here

At the suggestion of a favorite AC writer, Momie Tullottes, I've linked my e-mail with www.change.gov. This is the kind of interactive government program of which Ross Perot dreamed; one thing you'll learn, if you join this web site, is how overwhelming the burden of responding to citizens' comments must be for our federal government.

I've been reviewing the questions people are asking our President-elect about education until my eyes blur. I'm finding that, oddly enough, it's easier to stay with the program very late at night. During the daytime, I want to jump back to AC and share one clear, positive thing I've learned about the American educational system.

There is a part of our educational system that provokes none of the complaints our public schools, colleges, and universities have been getting at Change.gov. That is our community college system. Consider:

1. The system leaves no student behind; neither does it impede students who want to forge ahead. Students aren't required to progress through their studies in perfect lockstep. If someone already knows the material that's being taught, s/he can test out of the class and move on to a more advanced course. If someone can't keep up with the class, s/he can drop it and move back to a slower or even remedial course.

2. Everyone present wants to be there and wants to learn, so students don't disrupt classes. If a student did disrupt a class, that student would be dismissed from that class. Some people may be "forced" to take a community college class in order to get a degree or certificate or in order to maintain professional certification, but everyone has a genuine motivation to learn the material and pass the test.

3. Since everyone present wants to learn the material, the presence of older or younger people does not become a distraction. No stigma is attached to being older or younger than other people taking the same class. True, the majority of students in the majority of classes are young adults who are interested in dates, but nobody worries about the fact that a few students may be more concerned about their parents, their children, or their retirement pensions.