Wendy Lecker, senior attorney for the Education Law Center, writes here that our most important national standards are found in our obligation to provide a high-quality education, adequately funded, to all children.
She was reminded of this by the recent court decision in Texas, where Judge John Dietz ruled that the schools were inadequately funded.
“Dietz found that to prepare children for citizenship, every school must have a basic set of essential resources: pre-K, small class size, enough teachers, libraries, books, technology, support staff — including counselors, social workers and paraprofessionals — and extra services for children with extraordinary needs, adequate facilities and a suitable curriculum. After a lengthy trial, the judge ruled that Texas’ school-finance system failed to ensure schools had these basic resources and that, as a result, children in these schools were being denied their constitutional right to an education.”
“Across this nation, courts in school funding cases have found that these same resources are essential to a constitutionally adequate education in their states. Like Dietz, they heard evidence from national educational experts and local educational experts — superintendents and teachers who work with public school children every day. These judges heard what children need and what works best to help children learn. From Kansas, to Washington, to New Jersey and beyond, these far-flung courts ruled that their states are responsible for providing schools with this nearly identical basket of educational goods.
“So-called education “reformers” push a different and lesser vision of education — perhaps most honestly expressed by the Dayton, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce:
[whose spokesman said] “The business community is the consumer of the educational product. Students are the educational product. They are going through the educational system so they can be an attractive product for business to consume.”
“This diminishment of children as being in service to business is echoed by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who lamented that because of our public education system, “we are falling further behind our international competitors.”
“Not only is this vision offensive, it is wrongheaded. It has been proven over and over that U.S. students’ scores on national or international tests bear no relation to America’s economy or worker productivity.”
Our national standard ought to be, and until recently was: equality of educational opportunity. That standard cannot be met until all children have access to a good public school with experienced teachers and adequate resources. We must hold state governments accountable for supplying the schools that children need.
That diminishment and the whole agenda of Duncan has been endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and business groups enlisted as “partners” of Achieve, the National Governors Association, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Add the corporations that support the American Legislative Exchange Council and foundations who beat the drum for schools to produce job-ready graduates and save the economy and give us the most bang for the buck in dollar spent on education.
The civic functions of education are dismissed. The states with a constitutional mandate to provide for public schooling are being subjected to legal challenges about the necessity and desirability of that mission…government run schools are bad because they are state run.
Milton Friedman’s “free to choose” is the ethical principle, as long as the school is a tax subsidized entity and contributes to the economy by job creation.
It does not seem to me that our national standards have every been equality of educational opportunity. Most states have had to be brought kicking and screaming to greater equality through top down demands of courts and the Federal Government.
I agree with what’s written, but I think we have to acknowledge to some extent at least that it has been the failure of the public system to deliver “equality of educational opportunity” that has opened the door for the corporate rephormers. If schools on the South Side of Chicago looked like New Trier High School in Winnetka, no way in hell would any Southside parents be willing to put their kids in a prison like KIPP. I think poor and minority parents have been horrendously duped by the promises of “reform”, but I can’t blame them for looking elsewhere.
Note, I don’t blame this situation solely on the schools – I realize there are a lot of political and administrative factors. And I do support unions in general, but I think a lot of the unions have been complicit by getting too cozy with the power brokers rather than standing up to them. That’s why Karen Lewis has been such a refreshing change.
Ironically, staffing schools with fully certified professionals will become harder and harder if Common Core Mania continues. Who, besides a temp teacher just passing through (TFA), would enter a career that is doomed for failure. Why work your butt off and then be blamed when your students can’t pass an exam designed for success only by a select thirty percent. And that’s only if you teach in an above average class. Those working with more challenging children might as well resign immediately – the result will be the same.
We are heading backwards into the future – Buildings filled with technology, but bereft of qualified personnel. I guess the students will just have to teach themselves.
“Lake Belowbegone”
“Belowbegone” is school reform
Where everyone’s below the norm
Where every teacher is a monkey
And every student is a flunky
“Belowbegone” is “Knowbegone”
Where public schools have come and gone
Dear DAM – this one is a gem!
Seconded!
Dear Ellen,
It’s all your fault (and will become part of your permanent record).
When you said “And that’s only if you teach in an above average class”, Lake Wobegon was naturally the first thing that popped into my head (which is actually kind of frightening, that I have Garrison Keillor wandering around aimlessly up there somewhere.)
Yes, but why don’t we hear about this court decision? Why is everyone focusing on the California suit to eliminate tenure?
I don’t have an answer but, Ohio’s funding was declared unconstitutional years ago. My conclusion- judicial findings only apply when they extract something from the 99%.