Though my column criticized teachers, I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the responses. Many teachers sent letters saying their experiences mirrored exactly what I reported. Quite a few wrote of horror stories of dealing with incompetent colleagues and administrators. There were also some fairly angry letters accusing me of "bashing teachers" and demanding an apology for doing so. The fact of the matter is that there are many excellent, competent and dedicated teachers often working in systems that reward incompetence and slovenliness and penalize excellence and dedication.

 Our nation has a serious education problem that easily threatens our future well-being. Corrective action requires that we acknowledge and correct deficiencies no matter how painful and embarrassing they might be. A good start in that direction is to examine successful teacher-training programs and see if we have the guts to imitate them.

 Hillsdale College in Michigan manages Hillsdale Academy, a K-12 primary and secondary school. At Hillsdale, no students major in education. Students major and minor in the subjects they will be teaching -- specifically, art, biology, chemistry, English, French, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, physical education, physics, science and Spanish. To be admitted to Hillsdale's Teacher Education Program, a student must have and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

 Needless to say, teacher incompetency isn't the only explanation for our education malaise. Parents who don't give a damn and students with minds and attitudes alien and hostile to the education process figure in as well. There's not much politicians and the education establishment can do about these factors; however, it's entirely within their power to take measures such as those practiced at Hillsdale to ensure teacher competency.