In his commentary on Charles Murray’s 2008 book Real Education, Robert T. Perry criticizes the author for ignoring social and economic realities and for arguing that American institutions are wasting time and resources trying to educate too many people. The article, entitled “On Real Education,” was published in the online news source Inside Higher Ed, which is aimed at administrators, instructors, policy makers, and others working in the area of post-secondary education. Perry himself was, at the time this article appeared, an executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, the body that governs the policies and programs in that state’s public universities (“Board of Regents”). The problem with this article is that Murray seems well aware of the realities Perry speaks of and is in fact making suggestions as to how to improve the educational system to better contend with them. Perry fundamentally misunderstands or misrepresents Murray’s argument – whether this is intentional, rather than a simple misreading of the book, is unclear.
In his opening paragraph, Perry uses strong language to appeal to the reader’s emotions, particularly the kind of knee-jerk indignation that arises when someone claims some people simply “better” than others. He calls Murray “pessimistic” and characterizes the author’s general argument as an assertion that we are “wasting our time in trying to educate too many people” (670). He holds that Murray ignores evidence that runs counter to his argument. Some of this evidence that Perry produces are a Department of Labor report on the nation’s need for more college graduates and statistics relating to the insufficient number of graduates available to fill jobs opening in the next few years and the high percentage of jobs being created in the economy that require a college degree. Unfortunately, Perry does not provide citations for any of his claims, so it is difficult to verify them. Even if all of his factual claims are true, however, they does not serve as evidence countering Murray’s arguments.
The reason for this is that Murray is not arguing that all or most Americans should not receive some form of post-secondary education, only that a smaller percentage should be entering four-year degree programs. Murray’s argument is that people are capable in different ways and rather than streaming everyone into traditional bachelor’s degree programs, which they may not be intellectually suited for or inclined towards, there should be more emphasis on more practical and less time-consuming vocational programs. These programs would help satisfy many of the economic and labor trends in America, providing much needed skilled trades- and craftspeople; basic technical skills for those entering the world of information technology, where abilities mean more than academic credentials; and helping many avoid academic failure in programs they are simply not inclined towards.
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Perry states that Murray’s suggestions would lead to “Dummying down our workforce” (671). In fact, Murray is arguing that a system forcing too many academically unprepared or uninterested students into four-year degrees leads to the creation of courses and programs that lower the standard of education overall. If these people were instead led into more practical specializations, those with a capacity for higher-level intellectual work would be better served, and all parties would be more successful: academically, professionally, and financially. Perry would like to make Murray out to be an elitist, but the latter explicitly states that “People who go to college are not better or worse people than anyone else; they are merely different in certain interests and abilities” (679). Thus, Perry is arguing from within a mindset that Murray would like to see done away with.
The disconnect between Perry and Murray is that the former is arguing for how things should be done within the existing system and public perceptions, while the latter is encouraging changes to that system. Murray is not, as Perry characterizes him, pessimistic, and he is not saying we should leave behind the less intellectually capable; rather, he is challenging the view that vocational training is second class compared to traditional college. He is arguing that the obsession with a college education – an education that was and remains designed for the few, not the many – is off-track and not a panacea for the socio-economic ills of the nation. This is Perry’s fundamental misunderstanding: the two are essentially arguing for the same thing – higher education to better prepare a population for the needs of the labor force and for success in life – but Perry in relation to how things are and Murray to how things ought to be.
- Murray, Charles. “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 676-679. Print.
- Perry, Robert T. “On ‘Real Education.’” Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 670-673. Print.
- “The Board of Regents.” South Dakota Board of Regents, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
