Why
Fix Education?. . .
When we discuss finding
ways to "fix" education our conversations seem to veer in different
directions depending on a variety of beliefs and ideals about the true purpose
of education in our society. Is that
purpose to prepare students for future employment and to shape them into model
citizens, or is the purpose to provide knowledge and skills that will improve
an individual's quality of life in ways that may or may not have an economic
benefit?
In the end, the
"fixes" or "reforms" that we support depend on what we see
as the answer to the question about the purpose of education. For those who see education purely as an
investment for economic gain the ways to improve our public education system
are clear. Education serves a purpose
only in its ability to provide some sort of return on our outlay of resources. For ‘reformers’ education is a business, and
the students are a strange combination of consumers and products at the same
time.
When we treat students as
commodities and education as a result that can be easily quantified we end up
with a system that truly fails most students.
We spend out time trying to identify the best programs to implement and
the best tests to measure our progress and we sacrifice students learning and
creativity. We also restrict the ability
of professional educators to meet individual student needs. Essentially, we are spending significant
time, money and effort debating about the wrong issues in education. This is time, money and effort that severely
tax the limited resources of our public educators. By promoting the "reforms" that
center on testing and privatization of our schools we put professional
educators on the defensive. We shift the
focus of debate away from students and learning and towards identifying the
best test and the best packaged curriculum to sell our schools.
This debate is summed up
in the comments of two participants in this debate over school reforms
happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Santa
Fe School Board Member Steven Carrillo states that current reforms benefit, "No
one except the companies that sell everything to public education. It does not benefit kids, principals,
parents, teachers, supers, districts. No one."New Mexico Public Education Department Spokesman Larry Behrens responded in a statement: "We believe student success, and not adults clinging to a failed system, should be the measure for which we hold ourselves accountable. When we talk about joy, we talk about students who are successful in the classroom ready for the next step in life because they have great teachers who are recognized for their hard work. It’s unfortunate some disagree."
In my opinion what is
unfortunate is that we are failing to realize that all of the testing, and all
of the supposed "reforms" that have been imposed on our public
schools are driven by an agenda that has so little to do with education. This isn't to say that changes in our public
school system aren't necessary, or that everyone proposing changes is a pawn of
for-profit education companies. However,
we can't ignore the reality that so many of the "fixes" that are
being suggested for our public schools benefit specific companies and
foundations, while at the same time either directly, or indirectly harm
students, families and educators.
Opposition to many of the
supposed "reforms" isn't a symptom of "adults clinging to a
failed system" as much as it is an example of people fighting to defend
something that they believe strongly in.
Public education in America
has a long and sometimes unpleasant history, yet in the end it still provides a
service with vast potential for making our society stronger and improving
opportunities for all citizens. Things
that testing and privatization have failed, and lack the potential, to deliver.
"Fixing" public
education according to many of these "reformers" relies on attracting
the best talent into the profession. I
don't think there is any way to disagree with the idea that our schools will be
more successful if we have highly competent and well trained educators in our
schools. Yet, there is a clear
misunderstanding on the part of many as to just how this should happen. Once again, the business model is touted as
the way to achieve this goal. This
thinking centers on ideas like merit pay, and eliminating collective
bargaining. However, business model
ignores a number of important realities about public education (lack of money,
no reliable way to identify success, etc.) that render it useless as a way to
attract and retain professional talent.
By trying to treat
professional educators like professionals in other industries we eliminate many
of the features that promote success in our field. For example, the best talent in many
professions is much more mobile than educators traditionally have been. We already lose about 50% of new teachers
within the first few years of employment and need to work to retain those who
"survive". When we look at
schools, an experienced, highly stable staff promotes sound practices and helps
build vital connections with the community.
Professional educators
operate in a profession that is very different from many other fields. Our "product" isn't one that can or
should be marketed in the same way as other professions. In fact, we really aren't "selling"
anything; instead we are in an "industry" where the rules of
economics don't apply. Our most
challenging students, the ones that need the most time and resources, are the
ones that we should dedicate our most intense efforts to. In business, these students would be discarded
as being unsound investments, and they are excluded from many private
schools. Public schools don't have, nor
should they, the option to simply decide not to deal with the challenges that
these students bring with them to school.
"Reformers" seem
to fail to recognize the needs that public educators have and the support that
we need to continue our work. Here in Wisconsin public
educators had a system that provided them with some recourse, relief and
protections through our unions and collective bargaining. These protections were stripped away for most
educators by Act 10, a great example of looking at the world through distorted
financial lenses. In fact, the supposed
financial "savings" of Act 10 are directly countered by the loss of
"Just Cause" and other protections that allow educators to be strong
advocates for their students.
If we look at this list of
"Rules" for educators, think about how many of these are put in
jeopardy by the directions our current "reforms" are leading us
towards.
Rule 1: Rules are made to be broken. Rule 2: All for one, and one for all.
Rule 3: Bring your passions into the classroom.
Rule 4: Never teach to the test.
Rule 5: Keep it real.
Rule 6: There is no such thing as an un-teachable child.
Rule 7: Necessity is the mother of all invention.
Rule 8: Produce good people, not just good students.
Rule 9: The future is now.
Rule 10: Be the person you want your students to become.
Rule 11: You can't do it alone.
Rule 12: Be a student of your students.
The
Good, The Bad and
The
Ugly. . .
The Good. . .
It seems so logical that a
positive, collaborative relationship between labor and management should
produce better results for all parties involved, yet there is a continual
effort made to drive a wedge between the different groups. It also is logical that, because no human
relationship can be successful when one group monopolizes all power, labor
needs a voice in the workplace.
Organizing is what gives individual workers power in their efforts to be
heard on many important issues, finally, some good news on the labor front.
We’ve heard all of the
stories of disaster and suffering, but there are many who are benefitting from
the changes in health care. It is
important to remember that those who are trumpeting the failures of the ACA are
often those who simply oppose anything that this administration does without
even considering the merits of any specific policy or act.
Democracy isn't a
spectator sport.
The Bad. . . It seems that virtually every large international event brings out the
unpleasant realities that labor works in.
However, the attention that is focused on events like the World Cup also
gives workers an opportunity to make their concerns heard on a world
stage.
Headlines can say
virtually anything. This one from a
conservative source makes it seem that Act 10 freed thousands of workers from
their union "bondage". It
ignores the fact that the overwhelming majority of voters in most of the
elections voted for unions. The rules
and procedures established by Act 10 simply stacked the deck to make the
results appear different. Remember, the
threshold for recertifying a union isn't a simple majority of voters; it's a
majority of eligible voters. How did any
of our elected leaders, Walker included, fare against that standard?
Talking
about race, poverty and our shortcomings as a society are always difficult and
unpleasant. However, it is only through
having these discussions in very open, honest and forthright ways that we can
ever hope to really address the challenges that we face. Right now too many of us choose to ignore the
reality that we still have a long way to go in our efforts to achieve a society
where we truly judge people, "Not . . . by the
color of their skin, but by the content of their character," and where
equal opportunity is more than just rhetoric.
It starts with communication and education and then transforms into
reality. Then we can move into the
"Good" category.
The Ugly. . . Everything in "The Bad" category could easily be in
"The Ugly" section, however, a significant amount of our current
difficulties could be addressed more effectively if we can limit the influence
of big money in politics. Here's another
example of how our politicians can be purchased by those who can afford the
cost.
Buy
Local. . .
We are nearing the end of the holiday
shopping season, but there's still time to shop at labor friendly, locally
owned establishments. 
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