This week, the education organization founded by Jeb Bush, Foundation for Excellence in Education, held their annual conference in Denver.  “JebFest” included big-name speakers, elected officials, and education policy folks from across the nation, including host Dr. Condoleezza Rice, who serves as board chair of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

(Some believe that CondiCon is a more appropriate nickname for the 2015 National Summit on Education Reform. You decide.)

Creative naming aside, one of this year’s featured speaker was Nicholas Negroponte, Founder of One Laptop per Child.  His proposals for improving education in the United States took many by surprise.

One attendee posted this:

Proposals from the Jebfest/Condicon keynote speaker:
-abolish standardized testing
-abolish private education
-abolish competition
-emulate Finland
-implement socialism

Some attendees said that they appreciated hearing an opposing viewpoint.  Others were not pleased.

I do not know if the full video of Negroponte’s talk will ever see the light of day, but if it does I will post it here.

 

Note: An earlier post mistakenly identified the speaker as Dr. Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University.  In addition, “keynote” was changed to “featured.”  I apologize for the error.