People who follow the war between education reformers and the education establishment are aware of Diane Ravitch who was once a passionate reformer and is now an outspoken advocate for the status quo.
A key aspect of the education battle is whether or not there are successful “reformed” schools in underclass black neighborhoods. Ravitch and the establishment like to dismiss even the most successful examples of such schools as lies because “the problem is poverty and parenting” and schools cannot be expected to work for the kids unless those problems are solved first.
The debate is a carbon copy of the most risible and fatuous parts of the climate debate. The planet is warming; there is no debate or shouldn’t be. Dumping pollutants into the atmosphere cannot be a good thing. How much of warming is man-made vs the planetary cycle and how much is about CO2 as opposed to water vapor and what exactly we should do about it all are debatable, whether the zealots like it or not.
The same is true for schools. Reformers have proved that they can make underclass kids living in underclass neighborhoods successful – suck it up. Whether these successes are repeatable on a large scale, the role of federal government and of unions are all debatable.
The teachers unions are adamant in their opposition to reform to the point of using propaganda, political clout, lying and cheating, obstructionism and all the other political tools so sadly common in much of today’s doings. Ravitch has not just joined the establishment; she is now leading the disinformation campaign.
Smells Like School Spirit
By DAVID BROOKS, NYT - June 30, 2011
Make no mistake, if unions disappeared tomorrow, we would still have much reform to accomplish – the heat they attract is due to their resistance and tactics. But again make no mistake, the celebrated examples of reformed schools work, as do hundreds of other reformed schools across the nation.
These are the facts that are most inappropriately disputed by the education establishment:
1. Education can only be measured by the success of the children and we cannot know how well they’ve learned without testing. Teachers have always tested. Testing became an issue when kids started testing poorly in large numbers.
2. KIPP academies, the Harlem Success schools and the Urban Prep Academy of Chicago really do work. The lie is say otherwise.
3. In the world of underclass neighborhoods, the reformed schools the places where students are most likely to participate in chess and dance. They are the places where they are most likely to read Shakespeare and argue about philosophy and physics.
4. At the Urban Prep Academy of Chicago over 15 percent of the students are special ed and ninety-six percent of the school’s first incoming class were reading below grade level – thus debunking the claim that successful reformers ignore the federal rules or skim for top students.
5. Class size and money do not determine the success of students, teachers do.
There is no doubt that federal intervention in schools has made the education job harder and more expensive. “Special ed” students were often not accepted back in the day. Kids who didn’t learn were not passed on to the next grade. Trouble makers and the “uneducable” were simply barred from schools. Today, administrators have to take and keep them all but they do not have to dump these systemic problems on teachers and regular students.
I sympathize with educator’s problems but I categorically reject the prevailing excuse-making – those who believe that the job cannot be done should leave the system.
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