Amity Shlaes, Columnist

Bursting the Great American Bubble: High School

The success of the high-standards Basis Schools shows how U.S. students can compete globally.

June 28, 2016 at 3:14 PM UTC

Amity Shlaes, chairman of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, is the author of "Great Society" and co-editor, with Matthew Denhart, of a new edition of Coolidge's autobiography.

Rising expectations.
Photographer: Gabriella Demczuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images

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There are commodity bubbles, stock bubbles, bond bubbles -- and education bubbles. American high schools are a classic education bubble, if by bubble we mean a mismatch between a commodity’s real-world value and the value the public places on the commodity.

The value many Americans place on their own local high schools is “great.” Principals assure their schools are successfully launching generations of Sergey Brins into a global economy. Teachers repeat the “science, technology, engineering and math” mantra as if that alone ensures their pupils will conquer the world. Many parents too share this image. Since 1985, about half of families have been ranking their local public schools “A” or “B” in Gallup polls.