The plan of Democrat Dan Malloy for eduction is also posted on line. This one is much more like the usual plan that a candidate posts. It has little of the detail that the Foley plan contains. It has many goals, and many of those are admirable. So it clearly says where it wants to take the state, but it does not say how. One of the few proposals it contains is the idea to establish a 13th grade that would be available to high school seniors who are not ready for college. In other words, for those who have been failed by the education system in the first twelve grades, we will extend the program for another year so that they can try to get in 13th grade what they missed in the first twelve grades. To me, this seems like a foolish idea. First, those who attend 13th grade will always bear the label of "failure" since they could not manage in the first 12 grades. If I were hiring an employee and one had gone to 13th grade and the other had not, I would always take the one who had not on the theory that he or she had done better in school. Second, it would make more sense to me to fix the first twelve grades rather than throwing in the towel and trying a thirteenth. Even for those who are not ready for college, it would make more sense to determine that in 9th grade and then have a three year program during the last three years of high school to focus them on the basic that they will need.
Other ideas from Malloy include many that will lead to much higher expenditures for education. To me, this also makes no sense. Foley points out that this state already has one of the highest per pupil expenditures in the nation. Our results, however, do not show the effect of all those funds. The cure is not to throw still more money at the problem; it is to make structural changes the improve the quality of the education that is being delivered.
On the whole, the plan of Tom Foley for Education is far superior to that of Dan Malloy. Foley has detail and substance; Malloy has sound bites and more spending.
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