These are difficult days
for public education in Wisconsin. We face a host of challenges that threaten to,
at the very least impose drastic change on a system that has long been a source
of pride for many citizens. At worst,
these challenges may spell out the end of public education as we currently
understand it. With the last general
election behind us the immediate future of education here has been mapped
out. This future will contain continuing
efforts to expand a voucher system and to divert public money to privatized
schools. It will feature a climate that
silences educators and public school advocates by enforcing legislation that
targets anyone who seeks to organize and confront the "reforms" that
are being put forward. Standardized
testing and curriculum, a flawed educator evaluation system and other
"accountability" systems will undermine efforts to be innovative and
creative while closing existing opportunity and achievement gaps. Truly, these are troubling times for those
who believe in the power of public education.
Advocates of public
education have been put on the defensive by a well coordinated, and well
financed effort to promote the privatization and profiteering of education. These attacks have used the illusion of
choice and freedom, a false appeal to fairness and equity, and have taken
advantage of challenging economic times to promote their agenda.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty released a
report Monday arguing that private schools participating in Milwaukee's voucher program are held...
host.madison.com|By Jessie Opoien | The Capital Times
By Antonia Darder | Originally Published at TruthOut.
November 30, 2014 | Photographic Credit; Shutterstock / Student erases Rather
than an oppressive...
empathyeducates.org
Unfortunately, those who
support public schools and who value the potential that they offer have not
countered these attacks effectively.
Instead of providing a vision of what public schools can become, and
instead of promoting public education as a vehicle for a socially just,
sustainable and even economically sound society, these voices have too often
been relegated to trying to simply negate the arguments offered by educational
"reformers" and profiteers.
If we are to win the
hearts and minds of our fellow citizens in the debate around education in Wisconsin we must
provide an argument that not only debunks the one offered by
"reformers", but also one that motivates and guides our efforts to
improve educational outcomes for all citizens.
After all, the opportunity and achievement gaps are real and inequities
in school policies around discipline are real. While these are symptoms of a greater ill that
exists across our entire society, they have become very visible in the world of
education. However, even as we recognize
the stark reality that is the inequity of our society mirrored in our schools,
we must change the dialog from one that blames schools for inequity and that
instead points to the possibilities that public education offers. Those who attack and undermine our public
schools are not providing our society with viable alternatives that will achieve
goals of promoting social justice.
Instead, their "reforms" and policies have the potential to
exponentially expand the gaps that already exist.
Public schools are forever schools, not until schools.
Public schools do not serve students until the financial returns get too low.
Public schools do not serve students until those students turn out to be too
challenging...
huffingtonpost.com
The American school system today is an offshoot of an
increasingly class-driven society.
theatlantic.com|By Matt Phillips
In a potentially precedent-setting case, Delaware groups allege that charter schools
are violating the Civil Rights Act.
ibtimes.com|By David Sirota
Part of the process of
promoting public education is providing a powerful vision of what public
schools can accomplish when fully supported by a society that values the
potential that education gives its citizenry.
Examples of what this vision can be are readily available if one knows
where to look, or if you are part of a group that engages in these discussions
regularly. MMSD is beginning a
process to identify and articulate its vision for the future through a series
of meetings and conversations revolving around what our district will look
like, and provide for students in the future.
Discussion around this vision have begun by centering on two main
questions:
--What knowledge and
skills does a college, career, and community ready MMSD graduate need to
succeed in 2030?
--By 2030 what qualities
should thriving educators, schools, and family and community partnerships have
to help prepare all students to be college, career, and community ready
graduates?
I attended a public input
session on this visioning process last week and found the conversation
enlightening and motivating. There was a
pretty good turnout on a cold December night, and there were a variety of
organizations and viewpoints represented as well. It was very interesting to hear the different
ideas that were shared. What may have
been most telling is that when answering these two questions the responses
offered valued concepts, skills and ideas that are not supported by the current
educational "reform" movement.
When answering the
questions our table groups were supposed to come up with three words that
summarized our conversation. While this
was a virtually impossible task given the scope of the conversation, my table
group answered the two questions with these "words." For #1, about an MMSD graduate in 2030, we
offered: Collaborative self-advocate, adaptable and holistic- well rounded. Question #2 generated these answers: Embedded-empathetic-engaged-advocates,
accountably-educated, and trusting-respectful.
Obviously each of these answers is only the tip of the iceberg in terms
of ideas, concepts and discussion points.
Yet, what was very noticeable to me was the way that the discussion
immediately veered away from the standards and measurable data that is
currently driving school policy in communities across our state. In other words, people who were engaged
enough in the process to attend this session were not valuing the same things that
those making policy in our legislature and DPI have promoted.
It is in this divergence
of thought that we clearly see how having a vision or message, no matter how
powerful, isn't enough to create socially just educational policies in our
current social, political and economic situation. In other words, a vision is important, but it
is in the daily practice and the guiding policies that are crafted where our
educational vision is given power and voice, or is silenced. We see the voice of those seeking a more
socially just system of education silenced, discredited and ignored in many
different ways. As an educator I am
constantly facing the disconnect that exists between the rhetoric of
opportunity, choice and culturally relevant instruction and the reality of
standard, assessment and policies that reinforce existing inequities.
Knowing that we want our
students to be well-rounded members of a community isn't seen as valued when
standardized assessment results are a huge component of our schools' report
cards and our educators' evaluations. Students
who are adaptable and strong self advocates will find a standardized curriculum
and a highly structured learning environment to be more challenging to
navigate. It is difficult to value
diversity of culture and opinion when standards and testing are the gateways to
the credentials needed for "success" and access to additional
educational experiences. A climate of
respect is undermined by the magnified importance of test scores and economics
in our current educational environment.
In addition, our public educators have been put on the defensive and
vilified to such a degree that their voice isn't valued or respected in
discussions that revolve around their profession.
We know that these
challenges exist, and we also know that they won't lessen or change
without direct action by those who have a different vision for public education
than the one currently offered in our public debate. While many public educators would like to
simply be left alone to teach and work with their students, this simply isn't a
possibility in modern Wisconsin. If educators don't begin to speak up, they
will find themselves working in a system that not only retains its current
flaws, but magnifies them while creating new problems for our students,
families and communities.
This sounds incredibly
difficult and complex, and in some ways it is.
Those who want to "reform" our schools are well financed and
have powerful allies in economic and political spheres. What is important to remember is that, like
the labor movement, the civil rights movement and other social justice
movements, it is the power of the ideas and people working in solidarity that
overcome the control that a minority of citizens benefit from. Just like unions, civil rights and other
Progressive ideals, public education is a concept that deserves our full
support and our best efforts.
I know, you are in the teaching life to teach, to instruct,
to give to the next generation. So am I. But, I have come to some stark
realizations lately: 1. If you...
brettdickerson.net
In the struggle to defend
public education we have too often lost our way and diluted our message with a
series of alternatives to "reforms" and efforts to justify a past
that really can't be defended. We find
ourselves trying to make amends instead of creating a system that will work as
we move into the future. While we can't
forget past transgressions and failures, we also must learn to forgive each
other and move ahead with the most positive of intentions. This is where our vision of what public
education can be provides a framework that can support our efforts to make
positive change happen. It becomes a set
of ideals that we refer to as we create policies that will actually move our
system towards a more socially just and sustainable one.
My vision for public
education relies on a series of basic premises.
Success shouldn't rely on exceptional efforts, but
should be a regular occurrence and expectation for all students, staff and
communities. Too often I see interventions and supports for
students that are based on some type of unusual accommodations or similar
adaptation. Yet, these types of actions
are frequently ones that would benefit many other students. We need to look at the current policies and
systems that we have in place and reflect on their functionality and the
results they produce. Through analysis
and reflection we should be able to provide opportunities that fit the needs of
our students in ways that we currently don't see.
We need to define what we mean by success and
support all stakeholders' efforts to achieve their goals. Our
current system is guided by the needs and desires of those outside the
system. Whether the motivations come
from business, politicians or special interests they rarely reflect the true
needs of our students, families and the community as a whole. Because we haven't defined what we are hoping
to achieve in our public schools we inevitably find ourselves dissatisfied with
the results. In the same way, we don't
get input from a majority of those who rely on our schools and thus our focus
is overly narrow when we define success.
Decision-making should be the province of those
directly working with students, families and who are embedded in the
communities they serve working with the students and families themselves. People
who don't work in classrooms are not able to make sound decisions that work for
classrooms. What sounds good in a
committee or a legislative session doesn't necessarily translate to schools and
students. The true power in a public
school system should be in the hands of those who are directly connected to
students and classrooms.
Our entire society needs to be involved in, and
support our public schools. Public schools serve all citizens, no matter what
their demographic may be. This means
that they provide opportunities for our students that will benefit our entire
society. To fail to support our schools
leaves our society vulnerable and causes lasting harm to all of us. Public schools need to be at the center of
our conversations and should provide a foundation for a successful, sustainable
democratic society. This support should
be political, economic and social in nature.
Whenever policy decisions
are made they should reflect a thoughtful process that includes these basic
ideas. Fully supported public schools
that are embedded in a community that is dedicated to every citizen will
provide opportunities that will benefit all of us. By involving as many voices as possible we
can build trust and break down barriers that currently exist. Then we can craft policies that will truly
move us forward towards a socially just and sustainable society.
The
Good, The Bad and
The
Ugly. . .
The Good . . . While it still will be a long, up-hill battle, the fight for worker's
rights continues across the nation.
In an agreement with the National Labor Relations Board, the
e-commerce giant will inform workers about their right to organize
cbsnews.com
We need to continue to
work together as a community to counter the existing barriers to equality and
social justice that are so powerfully entrenched here.
Black church leaders representing 20 Madison
congregations stood united Wednesday inside the Madison Pentecostal
Church to send the
African...
channel3000.com|By Channel 3000
The Bad . . . Not only are voucher programs harmful to students. Now we have to be concerned about the impact
that the money from voucher supporters has on our electoral process as
well.
Former Assembly Speaker, now a school choice lobbyist,
targeted six Democrats with negative ads that never mentioned the issue.
urbanmilwaukee.com
The group spent $850,000. Democratic Rep. Wright blames
their late, “false” ads for her loss.
urbanmilwaukee.com
Scott Jensen is now a lobbyist for the American Federation
for Children, an advocacy group that...
host.madison.com|By BILL LUEDERS | Wisconsin Center
for Investigative Journalism
In Monona Grove, like many other public school districts in Wisconsin, we have a
code of conduct that students have to sign and we expect them to live up to. In
this code of conduct this line is prominent: Honesty (Students will be
trustworthy and truthful, no matter what the consequence.) The Elmbr…
jsonline.com|By Jeff Simpson
The Ugly . . . Wisconsin may soon be torn apart by another attack on
worker's rights.
MILWAUKEE
(WITI) -- A new battle may be on the horizon between Gov. Scott Walker and the
labor movement. A group launched on Monday, December 1st, a...
fox6now.com
RACINE
COUNTY — While state
government leaders including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos have said right-to-work
legislation isn’t a priority, a new...
journaltimes.com|By MARK SCHAAF mark.schaaf@journaltimes.com
There's a new special interest group in town and...
wisaflcio.typepad.com
Meanwhile, one of the more vocal supporters of Act 10 and other
legislation that targeted the working class speaks his "truth" about
existing safety nets. Supports that more
and more families will need as wages are cut and benefits reduced. His words are clearly meant to divide and
conquer an beleaguered population. This
quote from Grothman provides clear evidence that his arguments make little or
no sense and are based on a narrow, prejudiced view of those who need assistance to make ends meet.
"Well, if you tell somebody you're going to get $35,000 if you don't
get married and you're not going to get anything if you marry somebody making
50 grand a year, it's certainly a strong incentive not to raise children in
wedlock."
Current welfare levels are "a strong incentive not to
raise children in wedlock," the U.S. House member-elect said in a TV
interview.
host.madison.com|By Todd D.
Milewski | The Capital Times
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