by David Safier
Tom Friedman infuriates me again and again when he writes about geopolitics, and especially the Middle East. But when his subjects are the environment and education, he may get a little utopian, but he can be right on the money in the direction he wants us to move.
Sunday's op ed was on my favorite topic, education. I found out, first, that his wife is a public school teacher, which means he gets a regular inside snapshot of the education biz, a must for anyone who wants to say anything meaningful on the subject.
Here's the money passage (figuratively and literally)
One of the smartest stimulus moves we could make would be to eliminate federal income taxes on all public schoolteachers so more talented people would choose these careers. I’d also double the salaries of all highly qualified math and science teachers, staple green cards to the diplomas of foreign students who graduate from any U.S. university in math or science — instead of subsidizing their educations and then sending them home — and offer full scholarships to needy students who want to go to a public university or community college for the next four years.
J.F.K. took us to the moon. Let B.H.O. take America back to school.
It ain't gonna happen, but it's the direction we should be heading. I'll give Friedman a pass on his next three columns based on this one passage.
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