In almost every European country, the kids are far ahead of the average American kid, university-ready the day they complete secondary education. This is not to say that our kids are dumb; most are far smarter than I could ever hope to be, especially when it comes to technology. While it is true that Americans are far behind in our average education—at least in many parts of the country—we are dealing with one noticeable disadvantage. The kids in any given American school may originate from 10 or more different places, each with a separate culture and achievement objective. One school in which my wife taught in Miami, Fla., had students from 27 different nations, speaking 10 or more different languages or dialects. Thus, how could they be expected to master a uniform test?

At one time, I thought the difference between foreign schools and American schools was “individualism.” In America, one size does not fit all. It was “Theory Z” or some such nonsense that rewarded the group rather than the individual. It seemed, at the time (and there was at least one column on this topic) that the reason America was then ahead of the world was because of our rugged individualism. Then again, that was 20th century thinking. In the 21st century, it appears as though we're all going to have to shape up and paddle the boat together. Our students need to become little cookie-cutter kids, all studying the same things in the same way and learning the same things all of the other kids in the world are learning, and doing it via computer.

Insurance Education

One item missing from the list of topics the Obama Administration considers to be essential for our students—a good list including art and music and science, and so on—was a course about how to deal with the real world. The United States, taking the rest of the world with us, found itself in a mess because we were led like sheep down a slippery path to the edge of a high cliff. Let's reminisce for a moment: “For nothing down and an adjustable rate mortgage forever, you, too, can own a home. Look at those AAA-rated bonds. Hurry!”

So over the cliff we fell. About 100 years ago, Phineas T. Barnum said, “There's a sucker born every minute.” How right he was! In an interview with the head of one of the big New York investment bankers, the interviewer asked whether buying, “default credit swaps”—basically bets that bonds the same firm peddled to customers would fail—wasn't dishonest. “No,” he replied, “it was risk management.” Yes, “hedging” is a form of risk management; however, it usually refers to having alternatives available in the event of an unanticipated disaster. The investment bankers anticipated the bond failures.

Quality education is never static. I was reminded of this while watching an old movie on TCM about a British school master. Even in America in the 19th century, every student in a good school was learning Greek, Latin, Shakespeare, philosophy, and the “classics.” Apparently Obama's plan is to return to some of that, but not all of it, as other subjects have become much more important. One is grammar. On a recent trip, I was amazed to hear some college-educated people saying things like, “Me and him went fishing” or “Where's he gone to?”

No matter whether high school students are headed for college or “blue collar” jobs, they need to know how to get along in the world. I had a nephew who didn't know how to address an envelope—and he was a college grad. E-mail, text messaging, and now tweeting have virtually killed the art of writing a personal or business letter. Communication may be instant, but it often is unclear, which can lead to mistakes and confusion.

A neighbor who dealt in life insurance and I decided to see if we could write a textbook for high school students that explained insurance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 2.3 million people are employed in the industry, over 60 percent by insurers and the rest in related industries. That is down from what it was in the 1990s, when nearly 10 percent of the nation's employees worked in some sort of insurance-related activity. One caveat is that the Bureau statistics probably didn't include employment such as body shop repairmen, repair contractors, clerical workers in physicians' offices and hospitals, or attorneys who work for or against insurers.

We thought our textbook idea would be a winner. We started with the fascinating topic of insurance history and then discussed the principles of risk and risk management. We progressed to the basics of the types of insurance everyone will purchase at some point in their lives: life, health, auto, or dwelling insurance. We then touched on some aspects of business insurance, simply outlining the options available.

There was no market for such a book. No publisher was interested. Admittedly, we did not try the Texas Textbook Commission, which has the power to set the standards for what goes into school textbooks nationwide. Even so, I doubt it would have made such a book marketable. Maybe the fact that it was a “book” was the problem. Many kids simply don't read books anymore, at least in the traditional sense. They read computer screens.

As this is being written, the day after the House passed the Health Insurance Bill, it is still unclear as to whether the insurance reforms in the watered-down legislation will pass. It has to survive further battles in the Senate, and new bills to repeal it in both houses of Congress, plus a number of state challenges exist. Either way, it will impact high school and college students who know little more about insurance than that disability insurance is sold by a duck and auto insurance by a gecko.

While the kids may not be learning about insurance and risk, it seems that many of their parents are equally clueless. On a recent trip, we witnessed a number of auto wrecks. From what we could discern in most of these cases, drivers' education was as lacking as insurance information. People went zooming by far in excess of speed limits, running red lights, turning left in front of oncoming vehicles whose drivers had to slam on the brakes, and rolled right through stop signs. As one can imagine, there will be a need for auto claim adjusters for the foreseeable future.

One of the aspects of the new insurance bill—provided that it survives the challenges—is a state-by-state pool of insurers for higher risk applicants, as purchasing health insurance will be mandatory. Apparently people are confused by such a process, and call it “socialism.” Why they are confused is a mystery to me. This has been around the auto industry for decades, and it is called financial responsibility laws and the “assigned risk pool.” If the 14 percent of Americans now uninsured for health insurance join the 86 percent of us who currently pay for their costs through our taxes and own insurance premiums, there should be some improvement in the system. Undoubtedly there will be further fiddling around with the system, so we can't expect for things to get cheaper.

One thing is certain, though: like all new programs, it is bound to be more confusing. We all just may need a new textbook to understand it.