James Bryant Conant was a scholar whose talents extended over a wide range of activities. He was a scientist, writer and concerned citizen. Harvard University selected him to be its president, and he filled that position for twenty years. In 1953, President Eisenhower sent him to Germany, first as High Commissioner, and two years later, as American Ambassador. He returned to the United States in 1957 and devoted most of the years until his death in 1978 studying, writing and agonizing about the nation's educational system. In 1961, appalled by the poor education he found in the inner cities, he warned that "social dynamite" was accumulating¹. Politicians and educators effectively ignored his dire assessment; they did nothing. Within five years after Conant published his frightening insight, events established him as a prophet. The inner cities exploded in devastating riots.

The destruction shocked the nation, but the response of authorities was meaningless, and has continued that way after each subsequent upheaval. Whenever riots erupt in the cities, an almost ritualistic series of events takes place. First, astonishment and horror overwhelm America. Loud but indefinite cries rise quickly, insisting that the government must do something - anything. These demands are unanswered, but an interlude without riots follows. During those pacific periods the American public quickly forgets, imagining the disturbances were temporary phenomena that won't be repeated. Then the destruction happens again in another riot.

Despite the absolute accuracy of Conant's foresight, leaders and officials continue to ignore what Conant saw as the underlying and precipitating cause of the destructive force - lack of education.

As I write, the latest episode in this ongoing series was in Los Angeles in 1992. Conant's prophecy was again fulfilled. The nation followed its usual pedestrian procedures - initial shock, clamorous demands and finally, disinterest. The demonstrated recurrence of riots over many years eliminates the need for another prophet of the stature of Conant to predict that they will come again. It is obvious that they will.

The riots are only one effect of the 'social dynamite' that continues to accumulate. Rampant crime, which terrorizes America, is another. This lawlessness often comes into mainstream America. Consequently, it enrages and exasperates the American public more than the inner city riots. Citizens fear for their safety and they become heated as they plead for solutions, but officials can only proffer trite and anemic answers - more police, additional arrests, longer sentences, added prisons. Seldom does anyone in authority address the criminal activity-poor education connection. Jonathan Kozol in Illiterate America pointed out that illiteracy and imprisonment are directly linked,² and statistics from across the nation bear him out. For example, in Florida 43% of state prison inmates test below the sixth grade level,³ and math skills of 65% of New York prisoners don't meet eighth grade standards.⁴

If the impossible were accomplished, and the government apprehended and confined all felons, the nation would quickly replace them. Another huge group of illiterates will leave school this year and next year, and every year thereafter. Unable to compete in a technological society, many will choose crime. Although not the only element in lawlessness, illiteracy and its cause, substandard learning, must be confronted before criminal activity is controlled.

If further confirmation of the debacle flowing from illiteracy were needed, welfare problems provide abundant proof. A Ford Foundation study found that almost sixty percent of the out-of-wedlock births by young women occurred among those who scored in the lowest twenty percent on a basic skills test.5 Obviously, poor learning must also be addressed before finding an answer to welfare reform. The government talks about trying to educate welfare recipients to help them escape from the debilitating system. Usually, that is too late. They could have been and should have been educated before they got into their present predicament.

When Conant wrote his accurate assessment of conditions, personal computers were unknown. Since then, the power of these astounding machines has arrived and then exploded, transforming countless institutions, whether decaying or dynamic. Computers can revamp education, but they haven't because schools don't use them effectively. There is one simple example: computers can teach every child in every school in America to read, yet millions of illiterate students have left school and millions more continue to leave in the same condition.

Computers have begun to be used successfully in some educational locations. These are mere beginnings, but they and their effects need to be considered. I will do this in the next chapter. In subsequent chapters, I will show the far greater gains computers will provide when they are freed from current constraints.

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copyright 1996Fred Bennett