Newsflash: Gates, Jobs agree

There must be something about computers and logic…

This week, Microsoft’s Bill Gates came out and said we need to facilitate the immigration of skilled people to this country to ensure our long-term technological competitiveness on the world stage. A couple weeks ago, it was Apple’s Steve Jobs pointing out that the National Education Association has put roadblocks in the way of improving education by making it difficult to purge bad teachers. Both men were right and both were actually addressing different facets of the same problem: how do we ensure the future competitive wellbeing of this country?

Gates’ comments advocated continuing to make ourselves a Mecca for the best and brightest while Jobs tackled the problems inherent in home-growing our own whiz kids through the public schools. I think we need to take a hard look at the way we currently do things and must follow the advice of both men. Feel-good phrases and platitudes aren’t going to cut it…we need to look at what’s best for the future and let the chips fall where they may.

Gates’ call to ease restrictions on immigration of skilled people addresses an action long overdue. I’ll take it a step farther: Let’s fling wide the doors to this country to anyone who wants to come.

Aha! The Rantmeister, fierce opponent of illegal immigration, has gone soft! Not so fast, hemp-wearing forces of a globalized, no-borders, Age of Aquarius world – there needs to be a caveat on that blanket invitation. The caveat would go something like this: You’re welcome, as long as you can prove there’s something in it for me, and we’re not talking cheap grunt labor to dig my ditches and pick my tomatoes “at the height of flavor” either – we’re talking E=MC2, Yao Ming in the paint, Manhattan Project, “my God, that Pavarotti can really sing” contributions. Call me elitist, but I think new immigrants should bring something of value to this country, not just a demonstrated willingness to break the law and some impending anchor babies.

The US has historically been a magnet for the world’s high achievers. I think it’s also in the country’s best interest to continue that trend - we need to preserve our advantage by ensuring our supply of highly skilled people to power and grow our technological edge.

Jobs is covering the other side of the equation: we must also do a better job of preparing our home-grown talent so they have an equal footing from which to compete with the newcomers. Based on my experience with exchange students, this is not happening. Perhaps we should include teaching among the professions eagerly sought from abroad – bring in teachers who know what it takes, and are willing, to get the most from their students?

The NEA makes it tough to get rid of the bad apples now and ties the hands of administrators when demanding more from teachers. I’m not letting administrators off the hook either – they often seem to be more interested in erecting shiny new buildings, teaching the standardized tests to ensure good scores and soothing ruffled feathers than worrying about the quality of education their students actually receive. I think as a society we must also cut through all the bullsh*t and admit that not all students are cut out for higher learning, and we should prioritize our limited educational resources accordingly.

I was reading some comments on a blog critical of Jobs’ take on education (no link, I can’t remember which blog) where the writer said Jobs can’t treat education and the schools like a business. My question was…why not? Privatization would solve a host of those problems, not the least of which is stranglehold by the NEA. Why can’t the taxpayers expect tangible, non-superficial, results for their dollars? And if those results are not forthcoming, why can’t the parent take their business elsewhere?

It’s essential that people like Gates and Jobs are turning their eyes to the future and loudly sharing their concerns about education, immigration and, ultimately, America’s preeminence in innovation. There’s almost always a better way to do things when you finally have the fortitude to look.