CNN.com posted a collection of extremely interesting blog comments today originally intended to be: "A forum on longer school days (which) shifted from the impact they might have on students to a lively debate over how hard teachers work."  Beyond that, I think, it raises a wide-range of education issues for which there is nothing near a consensus on any given point and illustrates just how factionalized and disparate Americans are today on any given education topic.

As a nation, can we reasonably, realistically hope to ever again be near the top in international rankings of student (or school) performance given our profound divisions and venom for those not sharing our opinions?  Can a country of self-professed education experts, imbued with almost extreme individualistic tendencies and an instinct to display righteous indignation towards anyone who feels differently about any given topic than they do ever come together to compete as a unified force with a shared mission the way some other more unified thinking and acting nations do?

Or, is this our strength?  Is the type of vigorous debate this collection of opinion represents bound to make us better?  More competitive?  Finally able to get education "right?," so we can be #1 again...if nowhere else but in our collective myth?

I encourage those of you interested in American education to click the image below to read, browse, or skim the lengthy and vigorous debate CNN has published here: