Good
Decision Making…
The school year ended this
past Thursday for students in Madison's
public schools. With any ending comes
reflection, assessment and a look ahead.
That's what educators do on a regular basis. This process allows us to decide what worked,
what didn't and how we can improve our practice in the future. It seems obvious that this shouldn't be a strategy
employed only by educators in schools.
Our administrators, political leaders and other public officials need to
take time to really think about what is happening in our society and how we can
make progress in our efforts to improve things.
I'm sure that many in
power would argue that they do reflect, assess and plan. However, this process is only valuable when a
certain things happen. People must set
aside their pre-existing biases and honestly reflect about the results of their
actions. They must also be strong enough
to admit mistakes and recognize the flaws as well as the strengths what they've
done. The information used in this
process must be as accurate as possible and not simply gathered to validate
existing beliefs. Too often data used is
edited to be used as a defense of policy and not as a true evaluative tool. Finally, plans and policy based on the
reflections and assessment must be developed that will address the needs of our
society and create the best outcomes for the most people. All of this with a careful look at the
potential results from a variety of perspectives.
There are many barriers
that get in the way of the process.
There are political realities that exist for all of us involved in the
public sector. These make it difficult
for people to really be honest as they look at what has happened. Instead of really reflecting and assessing,
too many in the public sphere simply defend their actions and hold on to
beliefs/policies that are partisan in nature.
They refuse to see the strengths that integrating opposing viewpoints
might bring to future plans. Many of the
issues we are dealing with are complex in nature and don't have easy
solutions. Gathering data that makes
sense, and that is accurate can be challenging.
There are real differences in the outcomes that we want from our plans
and policies. We see a constant tension
between short term and long term goals.
We have a diverse society and there is naturally conflict between groups
that must be addressed. We fear the
potential unintended consequences of actions and look for "slippery
slopes" in every potential action.
Too often we are paralyzed by our own biases and fear and end up missing
opportunities for real change. The final
barrier is time. It takes time to go
through this process in a real, meaningful way.
We live in a society where quick, decisive action is viewed positively,
while more deliberate thinking is maligned.
However, we often see quick actions result in inconsistent and
incoherent policies that reinforce all of the barriers that exist.
These barriers have a
significant impact on the plans and policies that are implemented. If our process of arriving at decisions about
actions we are going to take is flawed, then it stands to reason that our
results will be too. We find our leaders
proposing ideas that are unchanged from previous ones (often policies that have
failed in the past). We see a cyclical
pattern that causes us to refight battles that were previously resolved. We also see a lack of vision that causes us
to put short term interests ahead of a more coherent plan that addresses the
future of our society. Too often we see
groups that share a common interest either ignore their shared concerns, or
create conflict where there shouldn't be any.
Enemies are made out of allies.
This lack of reflection,
assessment and planning is a real problem for our society in many ways. It causes incoherent policies and leads to a
breakdown in the cohesiveness of our society.
It means that we spend too much time and energy in pointless conflict
and ignore many of the real issues that need to be addressed. We can see the results of this issue right
here in our own state, and we need to work to address the concerns that so many
citizens have about the decision making process currently employed by our
leaders.
Education…
The flaws in our decision
making processes are extremely evident in the public education arena. Education policies have been punitive to
schools and educators. There has been a
lack of clear, measurable and achievable goals.
Our public schools have not been guided by a coherent policy that is in
the best interest of students. Instead
we have seen a confusing, haphazard and partially implemented series of
reactive "reforms" imposed on public educators. A few of the lowlights. . .
"Higher" standards that change the
emphasis on learning from being child centered and developmentally appropriate,
to mastering a series of skills that have been deemed the "core" of
education. It is very difficult to quantify what it means to
be an educated citizen. One persons idea
of what is important to learn can be different from what someone else may value
in an education. No one can know
everything and we will all have our own set of strengths and weaknesses. By trying to quantify acquisition of
knowledge and make the process into a sort of "checklist" of concepts
and skills that students must demonstrate proficiency in (during the
"appropriate" grade) we have changed the purpose of acquiring an
education. Being educated becomes
something that is defined by others and is uniform in nature. Many of the most brilliant thinkers in
history thought "outside the box" and would struggle in modern,
standard driven school curriculums.
In our struggle to
quantify a complex concept we have turned to standards and assessments as our
primary means of defining success in educational pursuits. Yet, these standards and assessments have
been rather hastily implemented and have ignored the concerns of professional
educators. The thinking behind these "reforms"
may be laudable, but the results we are seeing are questionable at best.
We have used school "reform" as a
political weapon. Political leaders who say that they don't have a
political agenda when it comes to proposing "reforms" to our public
school system are being disingenuous at best.
The past two years have featured wave after wave of attacks on the
abilities of public educators to organize and exercise their rights to speak
out on issues around their profession.
In our current situation any proposed legislative "reform"
must be analyzed in a political (not educational) context. This isn't a phenomena exclusive to Wisconsin either.
The resulting, bitter
divisions have created a climate of fear, anger and retribution that does nothing
to improve educational outcomes for our students.
In this environment,
rational and realistic reforms are ignored or silenced. Cooperation and compromise are eliminated
from the equation and we see a polarizing effect on educational policies.
Data about our schools is frequently misunderstood,
or misused by people trying to advance their own agenda (which rarely includes
promoting the interests of our students).
Articles and discussion
about our public schools is filled with "facts" and numbers. What these "objective" bits of
information mean is open for significant debate and discussion. Instead of allowing professional educators
the ability to use the data that we collect on our students’ progress, we use
the information to undermine public confidence and distort the perceptions that
people have about our schools.
The current struggles are guiding us back to a
place where we have already been, and a place that wasn't a positive one for
many of our students and families. All of the "reform" efforts and the
constant assault on our public schools have returned us to a bygone era of
"separate and unequal schooling".
We are so busy attacking public education and eliminating the voices of
professional educators that we ignore the realities that these policies create.
One of the starkest
examples of this is our highly segregated school systems that exist in almost
all parts of the country. Some
statistics from these articles. . .
--41% of Chicago's public schools are at least 90%
black, and 68% of the black students in CPS attend one of these schools.
--Non-Hispanic whites are
32% of Chicago's
population, but only 9% of CPS's enrollment.
--In Wisconsin
41% of black students attend schools that are 90% black and that percentage
doubled between 1991 and 2005.
--17% of Wisconsin's Latino students attend schools
that are 90% Latino.
We’ve seen what happens
when we segregate our schools throughout our history. Essentially when we ignore, or agree to,
segregation we are saying that we are giving up on the idea that our children
can live and work together. We know that
segregated schools don't have equal resources, or equal access to quality
instruction that all students need.
Policy makers at the highest level don't seem to be bothered by this,
but those who work in the schools want to see changes made, before we go
further down this destructive path. A
report from the Chicago Teacher's Union
states, "CPS does not even have a semblance of a plan for integration and
equity in learning conditions and opportunities that those who fought for
desegregation hoped to ensure." The
union goes on to advocate for the school district to work with other
organizations to try and address the complex issues around segregation of our
schools. Cooperation to promote equity, what
a truly revolutionary concept!
Education is an investment that pays off over time,
but our current climate is one that calls for instant results. Much
of the damage done to our public schools has been done because of a sense of
crisis. This results in policy and
budgeting that eliminates innovation, experimentation and forces educators and
students to work under pressure. It also
results in constantly changing curriculums and policies that confuse educators,
students and families. The pace of change,
spurred by so called "reforms" has accelerated to the point where
those directly involved in our schools are frustrated and uncertain. This also forces educators to make quick
decisions about curriculum and policies that are often unsupported by significant
data. I have experienced this multiple
times in the past few years as programs are implemented to "improve"
educational practices, and then changed almost instantly in favor of new and
even more "improved" programs.
No wonder many public educators suffer from "reform
burnout". The families we serve are
equally upset and discouraged.
"Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate;
hate leads to suffering." Yoda, sums it up well in this quote. We are operating in a climate of fear. One where every action and reaction is
analyzed with the underlying belief that we are facing an educational crisis of
epic proportions. Our students pick up
on this and their attitudes and performance in school reflect this pressure and
intensity. The families of our students
are given conflicting information and are encouraged to question every aspect
of their children's school experience.
Educators fear losing their jobs (or working under new, unfavorable
conditions), face constant criticism and encounter financial stresses that
magnify their anxiety. Very few positive
things come out of a climate of fear.
Divide and conquer strategies disrupt communities
and limit the ability of schools to respond to student needs proactively. The
end result of the atmosphere of fear is a loss of trust and a divided
society. Instead of becoming rallying
points for our communities, our public schools become places where competing
ideologies come into conflict. The heart
of any educational debate should be the impact that any action has on student
achievement, yet we find ourselves in nearly constant quarrels that too
frequently don't lead to more positive outcomes for all students. A society that can come together around all
of its children is one that will be stronger over time. That modern America struggles so much in this
area raises serious questions about the future of our nation.
The use of fear and
divisive political strategies means that words like accountability are defined
in multiple ways. Having been a part of
some of the discussion that is referred to in this article I can attest to the
power of uniting people from all levels of the Madison School District
and the value of clearly defining what we mean by accountability (and other key
terms). The comments at the end of this
article show just how divisive words can be.
If we spend our time responding to every perspective and every comment
we will find ourselves chasing our tails and getting nowhere. Accountability is a concept that is defined
by those involved in the process. While
all of us have a stake in public education, there are certainly some who play a
larger role in the system. Students, families
and educators all need to be accountable to each other in order to make the
system work. If these three groups live
up to their mutual obligations then the public should be able to trust that the
outcomes will be positive. Instead we
see people who have little or no idea of what happens in our schools trying to
impact educational policy decisions, and it isn't working well for our
schools.
Politics/Business
As Usual…
Education isn't the only
arena where we see this lack reflection leading to poor policy making.
There are overt (and
covert) attempts to create a sense of fear and anxiety.
Partisan politics creates
hypocrisy as leaders on both sides criticize their opponents for doing things
that they do themselves. This creates a
cycle of action, reaction and retribution that spirals beyond reason. Educators don't accept the excuse of, "They
did it to me first!" on the playground, and we shouldn't accept similar excuses
from our leaders and their propaganda machines.
Conservatives in Wisconsin blame
educators for poor results (although the true analysis of our education system
is open to debate) while producing outcomes that are abysmal.
Sooner or later the
citizens of Wisconsin
need to realize that we are all more successful when we stop fighting each
other over topics that are peripheral to issues that really matter. We have the skills, abilities and resources
to be a leader in all areas, but not if we squander these assets in conflicts
that undermine our ability to function as a cohesive society. If the current leadership in Wisconsin is unable to
find common ground on important issues, then it is up to us, the people, to
find a way to move our state forward.
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