Yesterday I posted an interview in which President Obama expressed his views about education.
I wanted you to read it in its entirety without my comments.
Here are my comments.
First, the President acknowledged that he was not a very good student when he was in school. He said that he was “mediocre.” Several readers have asked: Does the President think that his teachers should have been fired because he didn’t try? Did he have bad teachers? Were they responsible for his poor performance or was he?
Second, the President lauded the idea of merit pay, paying teachers more if the test scores of their students go up (and firing them if they don’t). No one has told him that merit pay has failed wherever it was tried. No one has told him that it failed in Nashville in 2010, it failed in New York City in 2010, it failed in Chicago last year. Yet his administration has allocated $1 billion for more merit pay. Why doesn’t someone tell him?
Third, the President said that teachers in Denver are very happy to be paid more for performance. No one explained to the President that the Denver ProComp plan contains extra pay for taking on harder assignments, and that the Denver teachers opposed the pay-for-scores legislation that was imposed on them by the faux reformers two years ago. But Denver has little to show for its “reforms.” Denver is no national model. Read Gary Rubinstein’s post on the unimpressive results in Denver. The scores in Denver (which is what the President means by “results”) remain well below the state average.
Fourth, the President referred to class size. He said that he talked to teachers in Las Vegas who were unhappy that their classes at the opening of school had 42 students, and it took a few weeks to get them down to 35-38. The President didn’t say whether he thought that it was okay to have 35-38 students in an elementary school class. I wish the reporter had asked whether any of the classes at Sidwell Friends have 35-38 students.
Fifth, the President lauded his administration’s Race to the Top as he talked about “results,” but he seems unaware that it has no evidence to show that it will produce results. States and districts are now spending hundreds of millions of dollars to tie teacher evaluations to test scores, and not one of them can show that schools are better or kids are learning more because of this unproven method. Where are the successes? Not in DC, which has been practicing Rhee-form since 2007 and is still one of the nation’s lowest performing districts; not in Chicago, where teachers recently struck over poor working conditions and lack of necessary resources for students; not in New York City, where the scores collapsed in 2010 after the state acknowledged that it had gamed the testing system; and not in New Orleans, where an almost all-charter system is ranked 69th of 70 districts in the state and 79% of the charters are rated D or F.
Sixth, the President says he really likes charter schools. But nowhere does he acknowledge that charters are recreating a dual system of publicly funded schools in the nation’s cities and are now starting to expand their “market” into affluent districts where there are no “failing” schools. Nor does he acknowledge that numerous studies find that charters don’t get different results than public schools if they serve the same students. Why does he want two systems, one regulated, the other deregulated? I wish the reporter had asked those questions.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
The President has many more pressing issues to think about, both foreign and domestic. He wants to win the election.
But he is woefully misinformed about his own education policies, about the absence of evidence for them, about the lack of results, about the harmful effect they are having on students and teachers and the quality of education, about the shared assumptions of Race to the Top and the failed No Child Left Behind. He doesn’t seem aware that his own policies require “teaching to the test,” which he says he opposes.
He has not heard the voices of teachers and parents. He is not changing his policies. They will fail as No Child Left Behind has failed because they are based on flawed assumptions about teaching and learning, and because they are based on carrots and sticks.
Carrots and sticks work for donkeys, not for professionals.
“No one has told him….”
Several people have tried.
“But he is woefully misinformed about his own education policies….”
Or maybe just mendacious.
About the failure to see evidence, re: charter schools:
http://palmettoeducatorsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-do-charter-schools-compare-to.html
He hasn’t changed since he gave his first speech on education back in 2009. He hasn’t changed since he was a state senator in Illinois when he favored the doubling of charter schools. He sincerely believes the rhetoric of charter schools being an engine of education innovation. He is a neoliberal Democrat whose subscribes to the “Washington Consensus” on so many issues which is why his Race to the Top differs so little from No Child Left Behind.
I could go on and on about Arne Duncan and Chicago’s Renaissance 2010, but I ‘ll get angry. Obama has drunk the kool-aid of neoliberal education agenda, and hence chose Arne Duncan over someone like Linda-Darling Hammond. Duncan does have a much better jumpshot. Just ask Michelle Obama’s brother.
I too would have like to see someone ask the President about his daughter’s schooling. For those who are curious check out this piece by the late Gerald Bracey. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-bracey/shouldnt-obama-and-duncan_b_251958.html
That’s disappointing to hear, but not very surprising. I’m voting for him and readily urging others to do so, but his educational policies aren’t why I’m doing so.
It’s telling that he supported charterization back when he was in Illinois, even though his daughters attended the Chicago Lab school (where Emanuel’s children also learn, and where Duncan once did), an environment thoroughly antithetical to the policies he prescribes for the nation’s children.
I am not voting for him, but it may not matter anyway. It will come down to a few states and mine will not be one of them. He is a hypocrite through and through. I am done with him…no hope, no money, no vote.
To me, this sums up everything you need to know about Obama and education: “Most puzzling, if the president and First Lady Michelle Obama send their children to a post-modern, personalized school, why are the president and Arne Duncan advocating policies that would intensify the most defective features of industrial,factory model schools rather than trying to transform schools to make them more like Sidwell Friends?”
I think it shows clearly that it’s not a matter of him not “understanding”. It’s a matter that he doesn’t care. He doesn’t really believe in charter schools, he just believes in making money for his corporate friends, as long as his own kids don’t suffer.
Excellent analysis and refutals of his statements, Diane.
So it’s clear that despite what some thought in the wake of the platform, the convention, and the CTU strike, the Administration hasn’t changed its education stance at all. Which I suppose isn’t surprising, considering the hold of neoliberalism, both generally and especially with respect to education, in the Democratic Party top to bottom. (However bad the WH has been, big city Democratic mayors have been far worse). No matter what happens with the election, we’ll have a very uphill climb.
If you read what he told the interviewer, it is hard to see any change from earlier views that created Race to the Top. He reiterates his support for competitive grants, which disadvantages the poorest districts. They don’t hire professional grant-writers or scan the Federal Register. The winners win, the losers lose. Is that neoliberalism or market fundamentalism?
I think you’re right that nothing has changed.
In my view, there’s a lot of overlap between neoliberalism and market fundamentalism. I think neoliberalism is a combination of market fundamentalism and punishment (for those outside the elite). Punishment seems to play an important role in corporate ed reform (both for teachers and students).
President Obama (and his BFF) have let the country down with RTTT and their love affair with Charters. I am surprised that our First Lady hasn’t spoken more about education… wonder if there is a disconnect there with her husband? In spite of my heartfelt disappointment — and genuine fear for the public education of my child — NOT voting for President Obama would be utterly devastating to this country — on so many levels…
For a couple of years I have toyed with the idea of writing an academic satire in the spirit of Jane Smiley or David Lodge.
I haven’t pulled it off because reality keeps stealing all the best material!
This is a prime reason why I am not supporting the President this year. I will, sadly and holding my nose, vote for him because there is no other viable choice, however I have not contributed a penny to his campaign nor am I involved in his re-election. I am working for and contributing to local candidates in the Orlando area who are much more in tune with real public education. Race to the Top is a cruel reminder that the change we’re needing has got to start with us, not the Obama Administration.
Diane,
Just a word of caution before you speak in Austin on Sunday. If you extol the virtues of unions as a way to explain fighting the corporate reforms, you will not be met with enthusiasm. Your’e from Texas, I’m not telling you anything new. Even the retired teachers have somewhat of a dim view.
As an example: There are many new members to the Texas legislature that have every intention of gutting the Teacher Retirement System, for no other reason that they don’t believe that public money (potential profits to them) should fund any retirement. The Retired Teacher Association apparently has tracked these legislators support to the groups responsible for the mischief throughout the country. As you may know, TRS is one of if not the best system in the US. Despite its success, they intend to do away with it if possible. Their plan of attack will be to strip access to/for new teachers and claim the virtues of the freedoms of 401Ks.
In Texas, teachers pay about 7% and the state pays about 6% into the system. This is one of the reasons there is little support for unions here, we believe it is the employees responsibility to contribute to retirement as well as the state. The belief, true or not, is that unions are greedy and want the state to pay all their retirement. That, in part is one of the reasons so many public unions are in financial straits and the retired teachersin particular know that.
I guess my point is this. You are a huge voice, perhaps the most important, for public schools in this country. I am encouraging every administrator I know to attend your session on Sunday morning. Your message is critical. It’s a stealth game right now in Texas and the message needs to be heard about what is happening across the country and that it is coming our way. An issue like unions will turn many off to your message. I know, its happened to me.
I grew up in Texas. I know that. I am writing my speech now. Thanks for the reminder.
I’m in a northern unionized state and I pay 9.5% into my pension, apparently it wasn’t enough, because our pension have been gutted. BTW, if what your sayingis true, Texas teachers are their own worst enemies–the turkeys that voted for Thanksgiving. They need to wise up. I don’t see why Diane should kowtow to their ignorance.
The President’s ed policies are a complete disappointment. I can’t bring myself to go to the polls.
All great points…I do not believe he has the capacity to care about the truth. The falsehoods of the privatization movement are more convenient because they pad his re-election pockets. If re-elected, nothing will change because rather than digging deep for the truth, he believes what his buddies tell him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have children who experience it firsthand to refute his buddies. Sadly, he doesn’t get it and I doubt he cares. I really need a Chicago Lab School for my own kids because it doesn’t look like this travesty will end any time soon.
For years, I’ve relied upon NBC national and local news are one of my primary sources of news. Nationally, I’m becoming very disenchanted with the level of objectivity in reported, particularly on MSNBC. Their Education Nation endeavor takes on more and more of a propagandist nature and less and less an objective news reporting nature.
Sigh! Very distressing.
Education Nation is propaganda for the corporate reform/faux reform movement. They occasionally will allow someone like me to participate, but only to legitimate the enterprise
I am so glad you said that! It is propaganda indeed. I’m glad I didn’t watch any of it this year.
The REAL carrot here is allowing middle-class parents to engage in segregation. This is the “dirty little secret” of charter schools and of education reform in general: that they are a sustained political force ONLY because rich or semi-rich parents want their children in schools without “undesirables”.
Hence Obama is making a calculated political move here by saying he supports charters. That statement alone is probably worth a million or two votes in terms of direct votes, activism on his behalf, and donations. Parents in segregated schools (segregated, these days, more along socioeconomic lines than racial lines) will do anything to keep their scam going.
This will change as charters dig deeper into suburban America and disrupt and divide more communities like our own has been divided in Los Altos, CA. The community filled with the executives who run companies like Google and Facebook are now rapidly (forcibly) becoming education policy experts and we’re not happy with what we’re seeing at all.
Please keep fighting the good fight, Ms. Ravitch–your students are learning.
Diane,
I have been an entrepreneur and management consultant for 30 years. I have created more compensation plans than ANY of these folks. And do you know what I’ve found… although pay for performance is a great concept, if you perform at a higher level I will pay you more, it is WAY more complicated than that.
For sales positions it is rather easy but not so for almost any other position. It is incredibly difficult to determine factors that the employee can actually control and then to build some compensation system around this. In many businesses they look to the compensation system to actually manage their employees… guess what, doesn’t work. At best a good performance-based compensation system gets everyone lined up in the same direction. Nothing more.
In addition there is a myth that performance-based pay will make folks work harder. Generally those employees who bring it to the table every day (or in this case those teachers who bring it to the classroom every day) will continue to do so regardless of their performance pay… and those schlubs who either need to be re-motivated or find some other line of work, they generally remain the same regardless of the pay system.
Most would agree that paying more for superior performance is a worthwhile goal but that really should be a management decision, not some one-size fits all attempt to have the compensation system manage and motivate employees.
I think these attempts at pay-for-performance are simply a mistaken attempt to improve the performance of the K-12 public education system (something which is needed desperately). Too often in these situations people focus on symptoms rather than root problems. Worse yet, at least here in Colorado the state legislature is actually involved in trying to set performance pay. That is a certain path to unhappy campers and lousy results. It might be a “two-fer” but it’s in the wrong direction.
This reality of huge class sizes (and crumbling plaster and peeling paint and frayed books) should be looked upon as what it is… symptoms of a failing system. The country spends more per pupil than any other country in the world, save one, and look at the educational results and the realities of being a teacher in these schools. The country is filled with hardworking, dedicated, loving teachers and look at the educational results.
SAT reading scores lowest in 40 years; source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-24/sat-reading-writing-test-scores-drop-to-lowest-levels
43% of high schoolers not prepared for college success. source: http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2012/sat-report-only-43-percent-2012-college-bound-seniors-college-ready
And these statistics come directly from reports delivered this week.
The problems at their core are not the result of spending or lousy employees… they are symptoms of a poorly designed system. And the only solution is to redesign the system. I believe the only true solution is educational freedom. Giving parents control of the funds used to educate their children. Setting teachers free… releasing the combined wisdom of literally millions of educators, parents, stakeholders of all sorts. Only freedom will solve the problems facing the failing K-12 public education system.
Diane, you and I might disagree on this last point but I ask you to look at it anew. Yes it requires a paradigm shift… many advancements do. But it is the only system that has transformed the world for the better. It can do the same for K-12 education.
John Conlin, President EndTheEducationPlantation.org
John, I don’t agree that education is failing. I think society is failing. In a capitalist society like ours, when you dissolve public education, the free market steps in, takes over, and everything has a price attached to it. Then the rich get more and more, the poor get less and less.
Diane
Diana,
As a logical matter I don’t understand your response. Yesterday’s headline was that SAT reading scores are at the lowest in 40 years. Most U.S. 4th and 8th graders are not proficient in reading or math. 96% of college bound African-American freshmen are not college ready, it’s 75% for the general population. 90% of all freshmen entering the California Community College system require remedial classes.
And you don’t think K-12 education is failing? How about the inner-cities? How many of their problems are the result of generations of lousy K-12 education? How many of the problems of the entire country are the result of the subpar performance of K-12? It is certainly not the cause of all but it is far from innocent in “society failing”.
And I certainly don’t understand your statement “when you dissolve public education”. Who is proposing that? I simply want to let parents control where the money is spent on the education of their children… at state-approved schools. It remains public education.
You are simply being naïve if you think “the free market steps in, takes over, and everything has a price attached to it. Then the rich get more and more, the poor get less and less.” That is happening RIGHT NOW before our very eyes. Right now the quality of the education a child receives is primarily based on the wealth of the parents, i.e. their zip code. And the poorer one’s parents, the worse the education. The price to a good K-12 education is called the housing market.
That goes against the very essence of why we collectively support K-12 public education. It is an obscenity that must end. Giving EVERY parent control over the funds used to educate their children does not make this worse; it solves the very problem you are against.
No, American public education is not failing. Our low-poverty students have the highest test scores in the world on international tests. Low test scores are closely correlated to family income. As the level of poverty rises, the test scores go down.
The US leads the advanced nations of the world in child poverty. We are #1. About 25% of our children live in poverty. If we reduced poverty, we would raise test scores. None of the numbers you cite refutes these facts. Ignore poverty and maintain the status quo. Attacks on teachers and unions don’t improve education or reduce poverty.
How about it this way… solve the education problem for only a single generation and the issue of generational poverty disappears. Perhaps the cause and effect is bad education = poverty versus the other way around. And yes our “low-poverty” students… would you mean students with wealthy parents?… do have the highest test scores in the world. I describe that as being able to buy your way to a better plantation. And yes as the level of poverty goes up, test scores go down. But how does that explain the fact that 75% of all incoming freshman are not college ready (according to the ACT)? The vast majority of these did not come from poverty. And these are the kids who have in all likelihood been preparing for college for YEARS.
Why do 80 to 90 million adults today — about half of the workforce — not have the skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.
The facts are rather daunting… the system is failing to properly educate this country’s children, middle class and poor alike. And lastly Diana, I want to participate in a fact-based discussion, not simply trying to score points to sustain my already held political beliefs. Please re-read this thread… absolutely nowhere do I attack teachers in any manner whatsoever. Rather I support them wholeheartedly. I never even mention unions. Although most unions are resistant to change, the teacher’s unions are not the cause of the failing school system.
My name is not Diana.
Diane
Seriously…. that is your “fact based” response?! I assumed this was an attempt to find the truth to help millions of our youth to a better future… not some partisan stupidity whose only goal is to score points for “our” side. You’ve been standing in front of the classroom for too long in a world where you don’t have to defend the factual basis of your beliefs. Step to the plate and address the issues. Yours and my beliefs don’t matter… only the truth matters and you seem to run from any facts which contradict your preconceived notions. Let me help you out here… I guess I’m basing teachers and unions. I had hoped for better.
John, let me ask you a question that is the simplest way to debunk “parent choice”.
Do you think ALL of the kids will be able to attend the “best” schools?
@John – “Why do 80 to 90 million adults today — about half of the workforce — not have the skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.”
What jobs? And especially jobs that “pay a family-sustaining wage”? Those are gone to slave laborers overseas.
And how could the U.S. population “not have the skills required” to do jobs that are sent overseas that are less educated that our citizens?
John,
I used to work in a corporate environment before I became a teacher. Your adherence to headlines and the like on test scores is rather alarming. A comparison of the NAEP to individual state test scores reveals huge differences that are suspect at best. Also, in TN, we have some of the lowest ACT scores in the nation. However, we are one of only a handful of states where 100% of the students take the ACT.
May I suggest a resource that is neither pro or anti testing? Daniel Koretz’s “Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us.”
Koretz works in the field of psychometrics. He wrote the book based on a graduate class he teaches at Harvard. It’s a good book, and it would probably add to your advocacy efforts. (Chapters one and six are a good place to start.)
Joe
John, the fact that you were calling Dr. Ravitch by an incorrect name says a lot. (Please don’t tell me that requires an explanation. A person’s name is very important.)
Even if that seems trivial to you, I cannot help but question the professionalism of somebody who would make the following statement: “You’ve been standing in front of the classroom for too long in a world where you don’t have to defend the factual basis of your beliefs.”
John, pay for performance schemes have failed over and over and over, even in the business world. Employers want employees who will work hard because of an internal drive, and nothing external matters to these people. By offering PfP schemes, even in the business world, it has been realized that the hard working employees end up getting shafted. This holds true in the education world more so because output is usually based on test scores, which is a bad measurement of teacher performance. Those teachers who can prep their kids, bribe their kids, teach to the test, or outright cheat win the money. This is just downright stupid.
U.S. schools are not failing. If SAT scores dropped, the next questions is, how many MORE poverty-stricken students signed up and took the test this year compared to last. This explains most drops we see, and it also explains why colleges are running into the turmoil of having to remediate so many incoming freshman and graduate less and less – we have more poverty stricken kids that were underachievers, and slid through high school (in order to increase our high school graduation rates), but were counseled to “give it a try”. The only thing they come out of college with is too much debt.
There is nothing clearer in the education world than analyzing data while being mindful of issues stemming from poverty. We have known for decades that out-of-school factors trump in-school factors by a long shot, and educators can only work with what society can provide in terms of the quality of students. Our society itself is in turmoil – more divorce, more babies born to single mothers who are doomed to poverty, and more income inequality and less class mobility than ever. When almost a quarter of our kids are living in poverty, aiming judgment at our schools ought to be on the back burner while the judgment we aim at our politicians and billionaires ought to be on the front burner.
Hey John, care to compare these figures to past SAT administrations and outcomes?
http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2012/sat-report-only-43-percent-2012-college-bound-seniors-college-ready
“SAT Access and Equity
More than ever, the population of students taking the SAT reflects the diverse makeup of America’s classrooms. Among SAT takers in the class of 2012, 45 percent were minority students, making this the most diverse class of SAT takers ever. Among public school SAT takers in the class of 2012, 46 percent were minority students.
Among the SAT class of 2012, 36 percent of all students reported their parents’ highest level of education as a high school diploma or less. Underserved minority students accounted for 46 percent of first-generation college goers. Conversely, underserved minority students accounted for only 20 percent of SAT takers in the class of 2012 who reported their parents had a postsecondary degree.
“Taking a college entrance exam is a critical step on the road to higher education, but many traditionally underserved students face financial, familial and geographic barriers that can prevent them from testing,” said James Montoya, vice president of relationship development for the College Board. “Low-income students are less likely to have parents who went to college, less likely to participate in rigorous courses and less likely to have completed a core curriculum. Providing these students with the support and resources they need is crucial to meeting our nation’s long-term college completion goals.”
Since 1970, the College Board has provided SAT fee waivers to low-income students for whom exam fees would present an undue burden in the college-going process. With the assistance of high school counselors throughout the country, the College Board’s SAT Fee-Waiver Service is making it possible for more low-income students than ever before to get on the road to college.
More students in the class of 2012 utilized SAT fee waivers than any class in the history of the program. Since 2008, participation in the College Board’s SAT Fee-Waiver Program has increased 61 percent.
During the 2011-12 academic year, the College Board expended more than $44 million in fee waivers and related expenses.”
Did you read the first post… I (who in all likelihood have much more real world experience in designing compensation systems than you) started with the fact that pay for performance systems aren’t the answer.
It seems the goal is to provide cover for a failing system rather than simply intellectually addressing the issues. Please stop attempting to assign blame and rather attempt to find a workable solution.
So I guess we wait around until poverty is “solved” before we can educate the children of the poor? Just because one is poor does not mean one is stupid. I live in the real world and thus address it as it is, not as I wish it were.
John, being poor is not about being stupid, its about living in a world that does not value education, which is inherited and multiplies when generational poverty sets in.
Poverty also means that these kids see things that affect them – things like seeing people shot in the streets as is the case in Chicago, the murder capital of the country, where 85% of the kids come from poverty.
As a teacher we see these things and we know how they affect education better than anyone.
And who said anything about ignoring the poor kids? We teach them! We have not forgotten about them – as educators we simply understand that we can’t expect a poor child to pass a standardized test that is practically written in a different language than what these children are accustomed to hearing and using.
I would challenge you to do some research about the shortcomings of students in poverty – especially in pre-K and how these shortcomings hinder these students for the rest of their educational career, which for many is short-lived because they drop out.
I would love to know charter schools will set teachers free. Free to do what? Freedom to teach kids to fill in bubble sheets to learn how to complete standardized tests? Freedom to ignore best practices in teaching so we can narrow our curriculum for the sake of test scores? Freedom from a fair and decent wage that reflects our education and years of service? Freedom from the ability to stand up for what we believe in once we have lost our collective voice? Freedom to watch greedy jackass “reformers” lie through their teeth and say that they are helping the poorest and neediest children in our country while robbing city treasuries, paying themselves a handsome salary, and hastening the downward spiral of our schools as they siphon off the best students and relegate the rest to public schools? Call your “reforms” greed or arrogance, but do not call it freedom!
How about freedom will set people free? Will parents willingly send their children to schools you describe in your screed? None that I know. Other than that, your post addresses many issues (many of them mental). Those exist more in your imagination than in reality.
Walk into any classroom in this country and you will see what I am talking about, more so in urban areas that are being “saved” by reform. If charter schools are so wonderful, where are the miracles? Have you ever taught? If not, please visit schools in your area and find out what is really going on.
Obama is clueless about what education means and the attention it deserves… A terrible flaw!!!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
He’s not clueless – he’s mendacious. Look at where he sends his own kids.
President Obama and Arne Duncan just don’t get it, and I am not surprised, neither has a degree in education, nor have they spent time teaching in K-12 schools. They don’t get it, and I honestly believe they never will.
Sigh. If he doesn’t get it, why does he send his own kids to Sidwell Friends? If drill to kill charter schools provide such good education, why aren’t Sasha and Malia at a local KIPP school?
Once again, he *does* get it. He’s a smart man. He knows what’s important in education – that’s why he’s making sure his own daughters get it.
While I agree with you, I can also remember when President Carter tried to send his daughter to public schools.
President Carter’s daughter went to DC public schools.
Diane
Do you know if they kept her in the DC public schools? I was extremely young at the time, and I don’t remember if it worked out due to secret service issues and things. However, a search on Amy Carter shows Woodland Academy claiming her as a graduate in 1985 (well after Carter was in office).
Clarification: I meant “after Carter was out of office.”
Good point! I have been asking repeatedly what the likes of Arne Duncan, Margaret Spellings, Michelle Rhee, etc. have “working” in the field of education when they have no credentials in the profession.
I was at the NEA Convention when the NEA endorsed Obama again and I was disappointed that we didn’t pressure him to get rid of Duncan and review his own educational views. he needs educational leaders like Diane Ravitch advising him!
This is a wonderful blog Ms. Ravitch! I am currently writing my thesis on what is going on in U.S. education. I’m reading everything you write. I’m losing my respect for President Obama as a leader based on his education policy. I wish someone would help Pres. Obama make the connection between his own experience as a lousy student/poor test taker and his current education policy. If it took him years to become motivated to be a good student, even with access to excellent non-high-stake-testing education…well, well. This might help him realize that education is about student emotional, physical and academic development. Education is about “process” and having a safe, respectful space for students to make mistakes, take risks–all key elements in the development of creative, innovate individuals. Policies that focus on “outcomes” and short term results de-emphasizes “process” and creativity, and encourages terrible individual and institutional behavior (e.g., cheating, dumbing down of the curricula, etc.). Sadly, Pres. Obama hasn’t budged on his education policy. I don’t need to understand why or his intent anymore. It is simply unacceptable and sooo damaging to everyone in this country–and I actually since I resist the urge to see countries as competitors, we are a global community now, it’s damage will be far reaching. Unfortunately, regarding education, Romney offers nothing better.
I’m not keen on having reform imposed on people from the top down–it sends a strong message of disrespect. Fellow teachers become furious when new leadership imposes rules on teachers without consulting us. It makes us feel like we are small children who don’t know better and who can’t be trusted. We take this process seriously and include students voices in creating rules that apply to them. Together we create expectations of behavior, and consequences. Isn’t this country founded on the experience of rejecting governance by a King? It is more modern and effective to have people sit at the table and create their own vision of self-governance and ways of dealing with community issues. Why not include all “stakeholders” in the creation of education reform?
But, as you have repeatedly said, it isn’t about education reform, there are larger issues such as poverty, and the fact we have the most classist society on earth. The American Dream continues, but it is a fantasy of “hope” promoted by politicians. Class mobility stats indicate people are less likely to move up than ever before. What is the American Dream anyway? The AD was hijacked long ago by manufacturers to sell products such as washing machines, houses, etc. Most of the ruling class is very invested in sustaining the current class structure. They reject the idea of the collective good, social safety nets/social programs and they are working hard to make sure that income inequity grows.
Learning the ways the corporate elite are dismantling public education and siphoning off taxpayer money through charters, selling tests and test prep material, etc is discouraging to those of us who believe in values of democracy, compassion, collaboration, creativity and community. In my comparative government course last spring, I learned that democracies aren’t etched in stone. Things can and do change.
I’m not sure that there is much difference, if any, regarding the “vision” for improving American education of the POTUS and the Republican “version”. In Michigan, the Republicans have pushed and celebrated Charters for 20 years- despite data showing Charter performance to be unremarkable. They continue to push more invalid testing (with useless/near useless data), accountability, while ignoring data that shows that “it’s the poverty stupid”. Non-experts from both parties seem to be “reforming” education, while devoid of any intellectual discussion with expert educators regarding teaching and learning. Would they do this in other industries such as medicine, law or engineering?
Leaders from both parties champion Merit Pay, Charters, vouchers, increased standardized testing and pay based on test scores. None of these will positively improve education nationwide. Merit pay does not motivate teachers. Charter schools may have an occasional success story, but are mostly a “shells game”, an illusion. Standardized testing doesn’t tell us anything new- the higher the SES, the higher the score. They all serve as misguided examples of reform- and the research and data show that the real problem is the affects of poverty. They seem to be more influenced by those looking to potentially profit from, rather than truly reform education. I’d expect more from President Obama.
My Questions: 1. How do we get “leaders” to acknowledge that the information that they have is incorrect and misguided, rather than based on improving teaching and learning???
2. How do we get a “Secretary of Education”, who is an expert in education? Look at the list of individuals who have served as SoE and you will see few with exceptional expertise. Shouldn’t the DoE have “expert leadership” like the US Department of Health, which is lead by the Surgeon General….a doctor?