Today's column by William Raspberry raises a number of crucial points about education.

And while the column is directed at US schools, the same philosophy can and should be applied to Bermuda, especially as the Budget debate gets underway.

Finance Minister Paula Cox and Education Minister Terry Lister rightly place a great deal of emphasis on education in this Budget. A number of new programmes are being introduced and a greater emphasis on technical education is being made.

Just as importantly, Government is setting aside funds for mature students ? including married couples ? to further their educations.

Ms Cox declared that the amount of money being spent per student from pre-school to the Bermuda College is now $16,000 a year. That's significantly more than private schools charge their students.

Mr. Raspberry notes, rightly, that the key point in successful education is personal commitment from individuals outside of the school walls.

He says: "Politicians, educators and school officials may be committed, too, but sooner or later they are drawn to their institutional priorities: defending their turf, protecting their budgets, saving their jobs.

"Moreover, politicians and educators tend to look to the transformation of institutions to set things right. 'If we can only get the right programmes installed, the right budgets enacted and the right superintendent on the job, then good things will happen for our children.'

"What (former Urban League head Hugh) Price has witnessed over the years is a reminder of the importance of involving children intimately in their own education by infecting them with a love of learning."

Mr. Raspberry and Mr. Price are right on a number of points.

The first and most important is that politicians and educators, no matter how well meaning, cannot do it on their own. If Bermuda is serious about getting education right, it will take a personal commitment from everyone: parents, businesses, unions, community groups and so on.

But Mr. Raspberry's point goes a little deeper than that. There is a tendency to look for a magic answer in education that will somehow, all on its own, get it right. That answer may be more money, a new school or a new programme.

Indeed, Mr. Lister, in describing the death of technical education in Bermuda, hit on just this point. The closure of the Bermuda Technical Institute, which has had any number of improper motives attributed to it, died because of a previous educational belief that all students should be exposed to an academic education instead of being ghettoised in what US schools call "shop".

On the face of it, this was inarguable. But it ignored the excellent teaching being done at "Tech" and refused to acknowledge ? as Mr. Lister now has ? that not all students are academically inclined.

In the end, if students can be infected with a love of learning ? regardless of whether it's for English literature or motor mechanics ? then they are more likely to want to go to school and, just by being there, they will be imbued with information about subjects they love less.

Bermuda education does not need to be "transformed"; it has had all too much of that in the past. It needs to raise standards, celebrate its students' achievements, encourage innovation and make schools the heart of the community.