It was interesting yesterday reading about the about the newly discovered business interest in "creativity" being taught in schools. The last business buzz in education was the insistence on "accountability." Students' performance was to be tested and measured to make certain that schools were getting their money's worth from the performance of the teaching staff.

There are two divergent forces in American education. That of learning and creativity, and that of discipline and control. Business leaders are inspired by business models. When we were a manufacturing nation, they wanted schools to be like assembly lines. Now that we are a nation of big box stores, one can only imagine what they have in mind.

Instead of attempting to interject creativity as one more layer to be measured and for which teachers must be held accountable, perhaps it is time for business to butt out. Trust teachers to teach according to the methods of Pestalozzi, Froebel, Salomon and Montessori. Then trust children to play and learn. Anything else we do furthers our journey toward becoming a nation of idiots.