PCs Aren’t Magic

Over on the New York Times ’ technology blog, Steve Lohr sat down with Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel, to discuss education. Refreshingly, Barrett isn’t convinced that technology is the answer to the country’s education crisis:

“We’re bailing out Wall Street, we’ll be bailing out Detroit soon, we’re bailing out the agricultural sector with high subsidies at a time of record crop prices,” Mr. Barrett said. “Where is the public outrage that the U.S. education system is failing our kids?” . . .

The keys, Mr. Barrett said, are high expectations, improved teacher competence and measuring results. On the touchy issue of measurement, he said it is necessary, but national testing remains politically off-limits. “The Republicans oppose anything called ‘national,’ and the Democrats oppose anything called ‘testing,’ ” noted Mr. Barrett, a Republican . . . .

“PCs aren’t magic,” he said. “Good teachers are.”