Trip to London

Recently I visited London.  As an educator I was very curious about life in another country.  Talking to people about their homeland of England was very interesting.  London is one of the most diverse places on earth with a 1,000+ years of history.  With all of this diversity I asked a tour guide what additional languages are taught in British schools.  He said they taught French as a  second language.  London, I suspect, is like New York or any other large metro area.  It was a busy and fast moving place.  The streets were busy most of the time.  People were visiting London in large numbers from all over the world. 

The media was talking about comments made by the Prime Minister.  He was calling for merit pay for teachers based on student performance.  Again, I asked a London citizen about this and he found this notion to be ridiculous.  The real issue is whether ALL students can achieve at the highest levels given that their home life may be desperately inadequate.

Economically and politically England's problems seem to match our own.  This was my second trip to Great Britain and the one thing I am sure of this that America is a much better place to live.  Clean air and wide open spaces are a blessing here.  Opportunities for the average American is much greater.

London is getting ready for the Olympics.  Workers are busy remodeling London's buildings and roads.  The layout of the city is chaotic.  The streets are narrow and unorganized.  Many thousands of people literally run to work.  Even more people bike to work.  Business seems to be thriving.  If you watch the news, however, they struggle with a lagging economy just like the United States.

In my own opinion, I firmly believe that the United States does the best job in the world at providing an education for the masses.  Other countries offer a great education for a few.  Minnesota does it better than many other states.  For this reason I am very proud to be in education in the great State of Minnesota.  I encourage our staff to keep up the great work.  London, by the way, is a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

What can we do to make our Crookston School District even better?