European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 5, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary George f. Never has the. Nation been safer from foreign menaces acid never before has the nation been graduating students less Well educated than those of the immediately preceding generation. These facts warrant this conclusion today the principal threat to America is America s Public education establishment. It tenaciously opposes National testing of primary and secondary school students. As Chester finn of Vanderbilt says in his indispensable new Book a we must take charge Quot the education establishment knows that testing would shatter the Public a complacency and bring demands for accountability. Sixty three percent of those from Ages 18 to 24 cannot find France on an unlabelled map fewer than half find new York 60 percent of 11 the graders do not know Why the federalist papers were written 94 percent of 1 Ltd graders cannot compute simple interest in tests comparing their math and science skills with those of live foreign countries and. Four Canadian provinces american 13-year-Olds finish last new York Telephone finds that 115,000 of 117,000 applicants flunk its employment exam 80 percent of applicants flunk Motorola a exam seeking Levels of seventh Grade English and fifth Grade math. Every american employer knows it is possible a indeed common a for High school graduates to be functionally illiterate. National testing would be a lever for moving the entire world of education. Measurable standards for cognitive learning would shape curricula and teacher education and would provide criteria for pay differentials among teachers and for declaring the educational bankruptcy of some schools. Some conservatives Are afraid National tests would further institutionalize the political ideology of the education establishment.7testing might be an occasion Lor indoctrination through politicized questioning. Furthermore say conserva Tisev any movement toward a snore National curriculum Quot would make possible continent wide mistakes. Momentum toward National testing and All that it entails was imparted by the 1989 Quot education Summit with the president and All 50 governors at the for . Students the epic atom re5ipekt Unuer Sheg Mig 5mart bom0� University of Virginia a or. Jefferson a University. Any permeation of education by National standards does involve another departure from jeffersonian impulses toward those of his rival Hamilton that apostle of centralization and National rather than local consciousness. However Many conservatives like most americans Are alarmed enough to put aside their traditional preference Lor educational localism. National testing is a necessary for acquiring information about educational results that can galvanize and guide Reform anyway localism makes less and less sense in a nation of  among regions a Naan flunking a As a nation a the inter More Tion National test of competitiveness. The parlous condition of  Tion was the Foremost Domestic concern voiced by voters in 1990. Election Day exit polls More than 70 percent of americans the figure is higher among parents support standardized National testing including a pal tonal High school graduation exam keyed to a National curriculum. Conservatives qualms about a Lional tests should be assuaged by the the Rocity of the education establishments opposition to such tests i hat establish ment wants to preserve America s Usvat ranted sense of Well being that is based in lax or tendentious assessments of cog Matve learning. Most americans like the illusion of living in Lake Wobegon where a fall tie children Are above  it is no coincidence that the philosophy and interests of the education establishment. Coincide exactly. 7 testing is a judgmental Quot and hence jars the Educ tors warm. A Taring Quot. Empathetic Quot child Cento re d Quot t h e rape u t in e t h in t it a t n u r t u r is  this produces today s toxic mixture of Low expectations and Grade inflation a a testing would make possible a result oriented assessment of education would end today a practice of gauging the Quality of education by the amount of Money spent on it. Testing is necessary for a system of accountability a clearly stated goals accurate information about Prog. Ress toward them and positive and negative consequences of the information. Thus finn says National testing is a first step toward transforming America trom a cult rent lassitude Back into a culture of achievement Quot a when it conies to consumer information about outcomes the american educational system has been engaged in a massive coverup if the securities and Exchange commission  publicly traded corporations to conceal this much data about their profits and losses we it have i crisis of investor Confidence a Ami a lot of ruinous investments a a finn notes that few people think doctors should autonomously set health policy. Everyone knows avar is too important to be left to soldiers. It is time for Quot civilian Quot control of education the largest item m every slates budget a a $231 billion Enterprise at the primary Anil Sec. Ondars Levels education is second Only and not by much to Ile tense As the nations most expensive com Moil provision. National testing is a step toward facing toys lad i lie Saler the world becomes militarily the less prepared America is to Prosper in. It. Because knowledge matters More As Mill tary prowess matters  a a a a Quot. C  Posi in ions group a a a James j. Kil Patrickis ready to soil again it figures Christopher Columbus had a rough time 500 years ago. It seems fitting that the commission created to Honor his achievements should be having a rough time of it. Too. Even so enough is enough. No Agency so Well intentioned should suffer so Long a run of bad  a 1 the Agency is the Christopher Columbus qui Centenary Jubilee commission created by Congress in 1984. It operates from a Small suite of offices up. Two flights of Steps on 1 Street. The 1% a visitor found executive director j Ainest. Kuhn last week talking by Long distance to Madrid. He Wax trying to Quot get. Favors from. Spain. As 1 say. It figures. Historian Samuel idiot Morison has provided a i id picture of the life Otto Lumbus. The great explorer was born poor in 1451 and died poor in 1506. In his late 30s he became obsessed with the idea of sailing due West to the Orient. His Hometown of Genoa was having budget problems the portuguese had other fish to try. Columbus turned to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain _ \ a Quot a sorry said the Royal couple we re Busy fighting the moors come Back after we be regained Granada. He came Back As persistently As a lobbyist for the sugar Trust and he talked the Queen into being an Angel. Contrary to legend Quot she did t Pawn her jewelry. Her treasure put up s 14.000 to build three caramels and in August 1492 off they went the Admiral three Little ships and 89 men. 3on Christmas eve Columbus wrecked his flagship in Haiti but he came Back to the islands for three . He coped with indignant indians mutinous men and jealous officers. Is Abella tired of him. He came Down with  arthritis. His hair turned White. He. Died at.55. So much fur Columbus. The Federal commission set sail in 1984, destination 1992. Unlike the caramels of. Columbus the offices of the Jubilee commission were manned by amateurs. They never had raised funds for anything larger than a Den of cub scouts. Congress provided relatively less Money a far less Money a than Isabella provided for her adventurous Friend Long ago. Nevertheless the word was Quot Adelante Quot  in 1989 chairman John Goudie made a Deal with Texaco. He also made a Deal with  was the Deal Texaco would pay the commission $5 million As. Sole sponsor of a tour. Out of the $5 million the commission would pay Spain to build full scale reproductions of the three 16th-Century caramels before Long the Deal fell apart. After paying $2.5 million Texaco got cold feel and suspended further payments. Spain said no . Pay no .  private contributions lagged. At the last report the commission had raised Only $326,01 0, and $193,000 of that came from members of the commission themselves. Last december chairman Goudie quit. The general accounting. Office filed a devastating report. The commission was in  it had kept four sets of con hiding books As of dec 31, 1990, it had Only $12,000 in Cash on hand and it was two months behind on its rent.-. A. 7 Quot. Not having enough to worry about the Columbus commission now finds its Liero tracked by an assortment of howling critics far from Quot being a Good thing. In is said the discoveries were altogether evil. Columbus and his successors ravaged the indians stole their Gold and left nothing but syphilis in their Wake. Bad Colum a bus this was the pits now things Are looking up. Jim Kuhn an old Reagan hand in. The White House took Over As executive director in february. The commission has a new and Sawyer chairman in Frank j. Donatelli. Private fund raising is aggressively under  three caramels have been built and a tour May yet materialize. Hundreds of local commemorative events Are being a a a a o scheduled. A number of Quot Columbus scholars will be funded. A major essay contest is planned. A. Kuhn is As optimistic As the kid who dug through j tons of stable manure. There must be a Pony Down there somewhere. There will be a commemoration its Gonna be great hoist the Mainsail on to 1992. Quot. To univer i provi Syndicate