Frank talk about education

Charles Murray stares down a few die-hard education myths in an excellent three part series at the WSJ Opinion Journal.

Part one - Intelligence in the Classroom
Half of all children are below average, and teachers can do only so much for them.

Part two - What's Wrong With Vocational School?
Too many Americans are going to college.

Part three - Aztecs vs. Greeks
Those with superior intelligence need to learn to be wise.

These essays are remarkable for both their toughness and for their sensitivity. From the first essay:

To say that even a perfect education system is not going to make much difference in the performance of children in the lower half of the distribution understandably grates. But the easy retorts do not work. It's no use coming up with the example of a child who was getting Ds in school, met an inspiring teacher, and went on to become an astrophysicist. That is an underachievement story, not the story of someone at the 49th percentile of intelligence.

Tough...

That says nothing about the quality of the lives that should be open to everyone across the range of ability. I am among the most emphatic of those who think that the importance of IQ in living a good life is vastly overrated.

... but not arrogant. That's a difficult act to pull off in a series of essays pointing out intrinsic differences between one's fellow Americans. Murray does a pretty good job, without being obsequiously PC.

These are definately worth a read.

UPDATE: Talk radio host Michael Medved is discussing Murray's series right now. It's also worth a listen. (Audio link later, assuming it'll be available online here.)

UPDATE: Edited for clarity. Thank you, Gonzo.