Bard College President Botstein speaks about what education in America needs to look like in the future. Contrary to others, he does not hold a nostalgic view of a past golden age of American education, nor does he believe ones personal experiences and non-experiences are a valid perspective to base a prescription on. Still, he agrees with the cultural zeitgeist that the schools need severe reform, advocating dramatic change; not incremental change.

Reforms he suggests are: (1) due to early maturation, shorten the compulsory years children are schooled to ages 4-15, abolishing the high school in its contemporary form, (2) introduce specialty schools to act as a bridge between compulsory education and college, (3) recruit and change teachers differently, and (4) higher education to take an increased interested in elementary and secondary education.