Summary:
Mr. Taylor is known for his controversial views on how to change and upgrade the American educational system. He calls to ending tenure to keep colleges and universities from becoming too stagnant. The use of an evaluation system that occurs every seven years so professors stay “on the ball” and not get lazy. Also, he proposes a pay reduction system for every year a professor refuses to retire. There are other points made in this book, but these were the three that stood out.
Opinion:
This book is the scariest thing I’ve ever read. Stephen King has nothing on Taylor. At least with Stephen King, you can say to yourself, “This is fiction. It’s not real.” You can’t do that with this book. If this book is portraying an accurate picture of the educational system in this country, then America is doomed. Colleges and universities are stuck in such a rut and cannot seem or refuse to try to pull themselves out it. Harvard is used as one of the main examples. No one ever thought we would have to bail out Chevy and GM, but we did. And from the way things are going, we may be bailing out Harvard within the next decade.
© Cori Endicott October 2011