The young people who are coming into school are not lacking in intelligence, are not lacking in intellectual capability, but are lacking in the capability of paying attention, and the capability of reading. And to a large degree, they are inadequately taught because in many instances they are taught by teachers who themselves leave much to be desired. Undoubtedly, somebody from the teaching profession is going to say, "What a terrible way to talk! There are a lot of very good teachers out there who are dedicated and committed to teaching, and are par excellence." And the author says, "Hurray!" But he wants to add that he thinks they are the problem to a large degree. It seems to him that the good teachers ought to be invading the professional organizations and making sure those professional organizations do not become agencies that protect incompetence. When he looks at the Teachers Unions of the United States, the author sees union after union that is protecting incompetent teachers. He doesn't think tenure should protect some people who shouldn't be protected. There's another thing. This is an age in which commitment has died. The author happens to be one who believes in commitment to a large degree and he worries about a society that is devoid of commitment. It is about time that admissions counselors challenge their faculty. The real challenge of the teaching profession is not to take a kid with an IQ of 150 and a College Board score and verbal of 750 and tell him that he can be a genius. The challenge is taking a student with 450 College Boards and making him believe that he can be a scholar, that he can be a first-rate student, and that he can achieve and be somebody. These are challenging days requiring a new kind of education relevant to the needs of these pressing years, and requiring a new kind of educator who is willing to accept the challenge of average students who want to do great things. This is a period when people have to be taught to love beyond the level of romanticism and understand the nature of commitment to higher values, to lofty goals from whence comes identity, purpose, and meaning. It is almost too great a task, but unfortunately it is a task that no one can avoid.