Two forces will fundamentally change public education and deeply challenge the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. I will describe them, and then, I will pull the long-legged beasties out from under the bed, and try to show that they can, indeed, be your friends.

Both these forces involve networks.

• First: computer networks that can teach or at least supply much of smartware for students to manage their own learning.

• Second: organizational networks that challenge the traditional notion of a school district. The corollary of the network idea is that the public in public education means what it does to Medicare: government financed rather than government delivered.

Copyright © , Charles Taylor Kerchner. All rights reserved.
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