What Do Loose Cobras Have to Do With Schools?

Applying Goodhart’s Law to education

Photo by Godwin Angeline Benjo on Unsplash

Colonial Delhi had a cobra problem. The king cobra, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, is a native of the subcontinent, and snakes were killing people in the city. So the British rulers of India put out a decree — people would get paid for each cobra skin they brought in. The economic incentive would rid the city of…