Si yo fuera gorbernador de Carolina del Norte

Education has been on our minds lately. Partly because we are, essentially, back in school, and partly because being in another country for so long can bring a new perspective on your own. Also, having lived in Baltimore for 2 years prior to this, we had a good view of the general disnitegration of public education in America. As we walk to and from the city, the conversation usually ends up as a discussion of what we ought ot do with schools back home.

We tend to pride ourselves on valuing education. Certainly school is compulsory to a much older age in the US than in other countries, Mexico included, but what good is compulsory education in a rundown school with overworked, underpaid teachers? We say we value education, but we aren't willing to spend the money. So our schools fall apart, our best teachers leave the profession tired and frustrated after a few years, and our students fall further behind.

So, if I were governor of North Carolina, or whatever state we end up in, I'd put forth the following:

Pay teachers what they're worth: Who wants to stay in a profession that prevents them from ever owning a house of their own or paying off their student loans? Maybe then we can talk about requiring teachers to get master's degrees. After all, if you had a choice between going to school for 6 years to become a teacher or a lawyer, which one would you choose?

Hire more of them: The most students K ever had in one semester at a private school was 64. The most our neighbor, a public school teacher, had was 156. Which teacher is going to be able to help the ones who need the most attention?

Compulsory bilingual classes: Starting in kindergarten, all the way through 12th grade. This isn't Mayberry folks. We're not just competing for businesses and jobs with Richmond and Atlanta anymore. We're fighting with Barcelona, London, New Dehli and Shanghai. We can't be the only ones in the room who speak just one language.

History: Did you know the $ sign originated in the Spanish colonies? And, hey, what the hell was the Mexican-American war anyway? All I ever got was a paragraph and a picture of James K Polk. How can we not know the history of our 2 closest neighbors? Americans know next to nothing about Mexico and Canada, and we're the losers. Better, in-depth American history coupled with extensive North American history can corect that.

Of course, there is so much more that needs to be done, but this is a start.