January 18, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

President Coolidge speaks in 1924.

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January 18, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

This has been said a thousand times, but Mark Perry says it best. That’s why he’s my new hero. His post begins (originated Russ Roberts):

The standard stimulus package doesn’t change incentives. It’s a check from the government. The hope is that the receiver will spend it. But when you just send out checks from the government, whoever gets stimulated is likely to be offset by someone who gets unstimulated.

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January 18, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

Here is a quote from the Gov. Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee:

“When you step back and look at all the things we can do to improve the quality of our workforce and the quality of life for young adults, there’s nothing more important than raising the high school graduation rate,” the Governor said “It’s the key to continuing an education or, at a minimum, getting a decent job that pays a decent wage and offers decent benefits.”

He says there is nothing more important than raising the graduation rate. Notice a problem? He thinks raising the graduation rate is more important than student learning, or at least he feels a higher graduation rate means students are learning more. Not so. We can hand out diplomas without teaching anything. I have written several times on this blog how states are now increasing their graduation rates by lowering graduation requirements. This is a serious problem, and it has been exacerbated by federal legislation, No Child Left Behind. Because higher graduation rates are perceived by many people as improving the quality of education, the schools must concentrate on graduating more students instead of teaching them.

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