Pennies, Post Offices & Public Education
“The most dangerous phrase in the English language is ‘We’ve always done it this way.’” — Grace Murray Hopper
It costs the U.S Mint $1.50 to produce 100 pennies, an increase of seven cents since 2016. Since its peak in 2001, the volume of First-Class mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service has declined by 43%. Additionally, the USPS often requires government subsidies to fund it’s debt.
With their fair share of opposition — debit cards, cryptocurrency, email, and delivery drones — pennies and post offices should have lost their edge, going the route of Blockbuster or Toys R Us. Yet, they survived. Avoiding the fate of other inefficient models uprooted by the “Age of Disruptors”.
Why is it that these sectors seem off-limits to change?
Because, tradition — a bit of nostalgia and a lot of “we’ve always done it this way.”
Our one-cent coin was first struck in 1787, made legal tender in 1864, and branded with Lincoln’s profile in 1909. The U.S. Postal Service was created prior to our independence from Great Britain (by the Second Continental Congress), and is one of just a handful of governmental agencies given specific mention in the U.S. Constitution. For more than a century, pennies and post offices have been staples of our American identity.
I’m not the first to question our need for the penny. Economists have studied it, President Obama debated it, and Aaron Sorkin made it a sub-plot on The West Wing. Our postal system has faced tough criticism as well. Despite these detractors, it’s not likely that either will disappear anytime soon.
And there in lies the concern: our sentimental attachment to the way things have been.
Don’t get me wrong, tradition has its place. I certainly look forward to them, whether it’s how I celebrate the holidays with my family or my appreciation for fireworks on the 4th of July. These traditions bring value and comfort to my life, and I’m happy to engage with them. I would be sad if they changed or stop. But when conventional practices become burdensome, existing “because it’s always been this way”, then they impede our ability to move forward — the tradition loses its value. Pennies and post offices are proof of this. When was the last time you didn’t step over a penny? Or, received something you wanted in your mailbox? Other than for the sake of tradition, and its familiarity, there are very few, if any, long-term benefits to continuing our relationship with these relics.
So, what do pennies and post offices have to do with public education?
Our track record on the penny and the post office is a good metaphor for some of the aspects of our educational system — another sentimental attachment to the way things have always been done.
With few exceptions, not much about our public schooling system has changed since first standardize by the Committee of Ten in 1892. A few of those remnants include:
- length of elementary school (8 years)
- length of high school (4 years)
- grade levels divided by age
- course work divided by subject
- letter grades & the 100-pt scale
And we’ve lengthen that list, adding such features as class rank and standardize testing. Yes, we’ve seen pockets of progress, but far to many traditional conventions, created before Lincoln’s face appeared on our one-cent coin, are still present in the majority of our nation’s schools. And much like the penny and the post office, schooling is familiar, comfortable, and has seemingly worked (for parents like me), thus there’s little urgency to consider making real changes.
No one model (or company or industry) is so essential that it can’t be replaced. And, eventually (through these blogs), I’ll take you on a journey that discusses how we can go about making change. But, today I’m asking you to view the role of tradition differently than you did yesterday.
We’ve heard it before, “comfort is the enemy of progress.” And where do we find this “comfort?” By complying with whatever we’ve done in the past. It’s safe, free from judgement, and requires no thinking. For teaching and learning to evolve, it will require us to re-examine our traditions. What do schools offer that is still of value? What processes can we revamp, reduce, or redefine? What from the past can we break free from? We’ve failed to ask these questions about the penny or the post office, preventing us from letting go of these unnecessary traditions.
I want to be clear, I’m not attacking public education. I’m an educator, and the son of public school teachers. There is no limit in my belief that public education is the greatest and most powerful gift we gave ourselves. In the words of The West Wing’s Sam Seaborn, “Education is the silver bullet!” Rather, I’ve seen the downside of tradition and I don’t want our public school system to suffer the same fate as the penny or the post office — just another monolithic shrine to tradition.
Winston Churchill said it best, “change is the price of survival”, not tradition.
