As we all know, weather forecasters are wrong much of the time. But you can’t hold them responsible for that wholly unpredictable icy blast felt this week.

After all, it was Hell freezing over.

That’s right.  Seems Dante’s inferno took a dip in the cold, not coincidentally, at the exact same time that former Philadelphia School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman --- a 43-year fixture in the public education establishment --- called for comprehensive school choice as the primary means to improve education.

Calling access to a quality education “the civil rights battle of our generation,” Ackerman penned a column in the Inquirer in which she lamented that it took her entire career to realize that true reforms would never originate from inside the system. 

Her words describe the problem perfectly:

“Real reform will never come from within the system because too many powers that be (the teachers' union, politicians, consultants, vendors, etc.) have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo that is failing our children.”

Dr. Ackerman then offered the solution that, while obvious to anyone with common sense, has been thus far impossible to achieve.

“Meaningful education reform must be forced upon the system from outside by giving parents of all income levels real choices about where their children go to school. That requires giving parents comprehensive school choice…”

Ackerman also advocates the expansion of charter schools, which, while a good idea, is but a small part of the overall solution, since the waiting list for these successful institutions is 30,000 strong. 

The major reason charters are light years ahead of regular public schools, as Dr. Ackerman correctly points out, is two-fold. They are not required to follow many of the burdensome and counter-productive regulations imposed upon public schools, and, more important, teachers are hired --- and fired --- based on merit.

Hmmm.  Holding people accountable for their job performance. What a novel idea. If only we did that in other jobs. Oh wait.  We do.  It’s called the private sector. 

That’s right.  Despite the comedy routine of certain folks who have nothing to “Occupy” their time except railing against the evils of competition  and free enterprise, the private sector is in fact what built America into the greatest, most benevolent power the world has ever known.

Without question, though, the United States is slipping backwards, being dragged into malaise and misery. And that decline, more than anything, can be traced to one thing: the demise of education.

For decades, all efforts to improve public education have been squashed by teachers’ union bosses, whose loyalty was to their fiefdoms and the almighty paycheck ---both funded entirely by taxpayers who were duped into believing their children were receiving the best education possible.
Whenever questions were raised about the lack of accountability and stagnant or declining standardized test scores, the blame game began. 

“Parents don’t put in the time with their kids’ homework… It’s society’s fault…There are too many students in each class.” And of course, the most common one of all: “We need more money.”

Undoubtedly, some parents don’t put in as much time as they should, and we live in an ever more complex society, but these simply cannot be used as excuses to not adequately teach. In the private sector, when your job becomes tougher, you either meet the challenge, or hit the door. Adapt, improvise, overcome --- or go home.  Nowhere should that be more applicable than when teachers are entrusted with our children, indeed our future.

And the “not enough money, too many kids” excuse is a myth.  That’s not opinion, but cold, hard fact.  Pennsylvania spends $26 billion per year (that’s billion, with a “b”) on education --- more per student than 39 other states --- an amount which has doubled since 1996.  Despite a drop of 27,000 students over the last ten years, the public school system had added 33,000 employees in that time. Therefore, by definition, increased funding, more personnel and decreased class size have not improved student achievement.

And the results for all that money and smaller class size? Pennsylvania students are 42nd in SAT scores, and rank low in literacy, graduation rates and those going to college.  Their performance on the National Assessment of Education Progress exam has not improved.  And most startling, nearly HALF of all 11th graders are not proficient in math and reading (per PSSA standardized test scores).  This cannot be attributed to just the poor-performing urban schools pulling down scores, but is testament to an across-the-board educational failure. 

Bottom line: it’s not just that the status quo isn’t working.  It has completely failed. Based on that dismal picture, Ackerman’s advocacy of school choice --- the “change that must come from outside the school system” --- couldn’t have been offered at a better time.

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 There are two elements of Dr. Ackerman’s revelations that are worth noting.

1) The implementation of school choice, more than any other reform, is imperative if we are not to lose another generation.  The way we did things in the past hasn't worked, and what we continue to do isn't having an impact. Unless we treat education in the same way as every other successful institution in America --- business, sports, entertainment, the military --- then we might as well raise the white flag of defeat.

Most western nations have a form of school choice, and the results speak volumes. Compared to our 30 biggest global competitors, America’s students rank near the bottom of the pack in every category.

2) Isn’t it a shame that no one in the public education establishment has the courage to speak the truth while they are still on the inside? Don’t get me wrong.  It is wonderfully refreshing to hear Dr. Ackerman’s sentiments, and to see that she has finally seen the light on what must be done to improve public education.

But it is a sad note that revelations like hers must come after her departure.  Just imagine how different things could have been had the Philadelphia School Superintendent come out of the gate advocating school choice.  While certainly not a slam dunk, it would have infinitely increased the chances for the adoption of choice, particularly since a majority of the legislature and Governor Tom Corbett also favor it.

A school choice victory is still possible, as we are told it is a top legislative priority.  While it won’t be easy, especially given the teachers’ unions’ huge political war chests generated by forced union dues, maybe, just maybe, the conversion of Arlene Ackerman from the Dark Side of Public Education might be the spark needed to push across the finish line.

Only then will the dream of so many, including Dr. Ackerman, begin to come true: “all children having access to a quality public school education.”
Just what the Doctor ordered.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television/radio commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com  His self-syndicated model has earned him the largest cumulative media voice in Pennsylvania. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

(This column first appeared in Philadelphia Magazine)

On a recent weekday at Annunciation B.V.M. Church in Havertown, a Mass was celebrated to pray for and honor police officers --- both those on the front lines and those who have fallen in the line of duty.

It was an emotional service, especially given the number of police who have been brutally slain in the last several years.  The thought of a lonely and distraught spouse raising young children --- including some unborn who never even glimpsed their father--- was so heartbreaking as to be unthinkable.

The worst part is that there’s no rational way to explain, let alone overcome, the absolute senselessness of why these officers were slain.
Where is our country headed when cops are being killed with abandon? 

While all innocent human life is sacred, there is something different about shooting a law enforcement officer. It breaks down the last barrier of respect, and it violates the code that most criminals follow - you don't take shots at police. Period.

Like anything else in life, once that taboo is broken, all bets are off.  In Philadelphia's case, it is now obvious that cops are fair game. The breakdown of the city is virtually complete.

With civility and respect quickly becoming a faded memory, further imperiling our children’s future, people are increasingly asking what, if anything, can be done to reverse this deadly course.

The answer is simple.  It’s just not easy:

School choice.

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We have just witnessed the murder trial of cop-killers Eric Floyd and Levon Warner.  Both owners of long rap sheets, they heinously gunned down Officer Stephen Liczbinski in 2008. These animals deserve the death penalty, plain and simple, but that doesn’t answer how you stop such an atrocity from occurring in the future.

If you’re looking to politicians for help, you’ll be blind before that happens.

Every time there’s another crime in the headlines, Mayor Michael Nutter spews the same monotonous babble that the violence epidemic will be curtailed.

But nothing has changed. In fact, despite all the resources put into fighting crime, it's only getting worse.

Whether its flash mobs, citizens getting gunned down, brutal subway attacks ---or cops in the crosshairs, it’s clear that respect for authority is non-existent, and no one is off-limits to the predators.

Philadelphia’s murder, violence and homeless rates are among the highest in the nation, and there’s absolutely nothing to indicate that the situation will improve anytime soon, if ever.

Three things have become readily apparent:

1) The way we did things in the past hasn't worked.

2) What we're doing now isn't having an impact.

3) Unless a bold leader takes steps to institute true reform and eschew band-aid solutions to gaping wounds, the city ---and the region ---will continue its plummet into the abyss.

Here's the part no one wants to admit. There is NO short-term solution.

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We can talk all day about fairy-tale feel-good “solutions” by invoking vague rhetoric: community partnerships, town watches, more police, and of course, the ultimate panacea, banning guns.

But since we've been hearing that for decades, ad nauseum, here's a newsflash to our leaders: none of these things work. And they're not going to, either, because they are tactics without the benefit of a strategy.

Enter school choice.

The dire situation in which we find ourselves boils down to our horrendously bad educational system, and, as a direct result, the lack of hope in our young people.

With no possibility of receiving a quality education, and the prospects for a decent job virtually nonexistent, many of our youth see the dream of a stable and prosperous life as nothing more than an illusion. Faith is lost.

At that point, when people feel they have nothing to live for, or to lose, they resort to risk-taking criminal activity. The end result is despair, fear, violence and murder.

Even though our public schools are in shambles, and many are deathtraps for student and teacher alike, most parents have no options.
When education is trumped by survival, everybody loses.

So why doesn't the system change?

Greed.

Greed to keep the status quo the way it is because it immensely benefits a narrow few. And greed to keep the truth out of sight, buried behind 30 second sound bites.

And the greediest offender of all?  The teachers’ unions.

The unions are terrified of school choice because it would inject competition into our schools, which would 
expose incompetence, and the masses will finally see that the system's failure has nothing to do with a lack of money.

But since so many of our politicians, especially in Philadelphia, are in bed with these unions, school choice programs continue to be thwarted.

Without a doubt, the union leadership wields immense political power because it reaps millions in forced union dues, which are used for partisan political purposes. But how long can we --- and our “leaders” --- be held hostage to them?

Break the stranglehold of the unions, and you break the violence, both in our schools and our city.

When parents have a choice in their children's education, schools that perform will attract more students and succeed, and those that continue with the status quo will lose students and fail. The free market system that has served us so well will have the same effect on our educational product.

For the first time in generations, school choice will allow our students to actually learn the skills necessary to succeed in life.

Because of a quality education, they will have hope for a better tomorrow, understanding that it is better to live in a stable environment than be part of a criminal world in which the lifespan is shorter than those in third-world nations.

Criminals today don't fear the crossfire because they feel they have nothing to live for anyway. Until that mentality is changed, Philadelphians will continue to be held hostage, and more people - including children and police officers - will die.

But instead of action on choice, all we hear are empty promises.

To Mayor Nutter, Gov. Rendell, much of the state legislature and the union leadership who have perpetuated this senseless violence because of their deliberate failure to act, shame on you.

We can only hope that the next Governor and a new legislature will have the political will to do the right thing.

If not, how much more blood will be spilled?

Chris Freind is an independent columnist and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com
Readers of his column, “Freindly Fire,” hail from six continents, thirty countries and all fifty states. His work has been referenced in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, foreign newspapers, and in Dick Morris' recent bestseller "Catastrophe."
Freind also serves as a weekly guest commentator on the Philadelphia-area talk radio show, Political Talk (WCHE 1520), and makes numerous other television and radio appearances.  He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it