Much has been made of the fact that the President Elect is a Harvard man, and the Governor of Alaska went to a variety of colleges before graduating from a small state public university.  Yet the great irony that the media paid no attention to was the question of which candidates were more likely to have lives that are similar to the majority of Americans.  And in that case, Governor Palin is probably much more typical than Senator Obama, or many politicians, most of whom have some lucky breaks.

One of the things the Democratic party keeps telling us is that it champions good education.  Harvard certainly is a good education, but it is not where most of us go.  Palin’s experience is one that many of the under 40 age group can relate to.  And, while it was under reported, it is worth noting that she participated in school sports and maintained a good GPA.  Then there was the question of the Chicago schools.  No one seems to have asked William Ayers any pointed questions about educational policy.  But one more set of questions might be worth examining, if there ar actually nay investigative journalists left.  Have any in the media heard of Marva Collins?

Marva Collins began making a name for her self in the 1970s.  She found the Chicago public schools to be failed institutions, which were not educating black and poor children, and claimed that they were not educable.  Miss Collins started inner city schooling that provided a good solid education based on classics and excellence.  The pupils in her classes excelled, often reading well above grade level.  Her classes stressed standard English, math, logic, literature – a good solid curriculum.

A question for the so-called journalists – Why is it that academics in Chicago are seeking out an educational failure like William Ayers, instead of an educational success like Marva Collins?  Another question:  Is is true that Miss Collins was able to get good results at a cost per pupil of approximately half the per pupil cost of the failing Chicago public schools?  Why?  Why is no one interested?  Do you suppose the underlying lack of interest has something to do with the fact that both Marva Collins and Sarah Palin placed performance ahead of everything else in their educations?

Something to ponder.  Yes, Harvard is good.  But it isn’t the only way to get a good education.