In an article published in 2013, journalist Launce Rake comments on the departure from Nevada of two “reformers.” He takes the opportunity to explain why the word “reform” should never be used to describe events, individuals, or organizations.
He writes:
A GOOD EDITOR, YEARS AGO, told me to jettison the word “reform.” Calling a policy change “reform” is a way to dress it up and make it acceptable to the public, she explained.
If you want to award less money to people who sue after being horribly maimed by bad products or services, don’t call it “giving victims less money.” Call it “tort reform.”
Likewise, if you want to take apart the teachers unions and make it easier to fire teachers, don’t say “make it easier to fire teachers”. Call it “education reform.”
And they have. For a decade, education reform — that is, administrative and policy changes to public schools — has been a train barreling down the tracks, embraced by elected and appointed officials at all levels, across the political spectrum. Everybody loves reform!
That’s as true in Nevada as anywhere in the nation; schools in Nevada and the Clark County School District, the nation’s fifth largest, consistently rank among the worst-performing in the nation. While some wags also point out that they are also among the worst funded in the nation, political leaders, unable or unwilling to address the funding issue, have instead called for “reform.”
Isn’t it amazing that this writer gets it, but no one in the mainstream media does?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I thought this was an effective letter from a superintendent. It will only “work” locally but maybe local is the way to go since federal and state leaders aren’t interested.
“Here is a short list of additional requirements that have come into play for school districts since the last state budget:
• Common Core curriculum in math and English;
• PARRC tests in math and English in grades 3-8;
• AIR tests in science and social studies in grades 3-8;
• Requirements that the new state tests be taken using computers;
• New high school graduation requirements and additional high school testing;
• A state-mandated teacher assessment system;
• A state-mandated principal assessment system;
• New school safety regulations and reporting;
• New administrative rules for how tests are given, how students are counted for enrollment, and other areas simply too numerous to recount.
Not one of these mandates came with a single dime of additional support to schools.”
I think that may get thru to parents 🙂
http://www.athensmessenger.com/blogs/guest_columnists/more-with-less-again/article_ee5140b9-396b-5797-a119-9947281a7229.html
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It is not just a bunch of new stuff as you know, but the “devil in the detail” of acting on every one of these mandates, and the convoluted, often contradictory “guidance” given to districts by a state department clearly hamstrung by the double whammy of federal rules and rules from state legislators who have little interest in the implications because they do not have to live with the consequences of mandates.
Throw into the mix some state school board members, some elected, a majority appointed and you have a recipe for compliance-driven schooling with not much concern for education.
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Beware of any “reform” titled revisions. It is usually an euphemism which implies that the middle class is going to lose and gain nothing. This term is being tossed around in public education as well as in pension changes where they want to move people from a defined benefit to a contribution plan. The contribution plan is a huge benefit reduction for the individual. The buzz word they often use to implement this change is “sustainable.” The claim is that our current pension structure is unsustainable. Then they proceed to eviscerate the worker’s pension.
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I finally watched “House of Cards”. The theme is Democrats all join together and “boldly” renounce labor unions and cut Social Security. This is portrayed as incredibly clever and savvy politics.
I was thinking “this really IS just like DC!” 🙂
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Yes it is amazing that this writer accurately understands and describes what’s happening in education. It’s truly puzzling why more don’t. They can’t all be bought, or aligned to some partisan agenda.
Could it be that the issues around education are so numerous and complex that it’s difficult to get the big picture? After all the challenges with education are essentially the symptoms of larger economic and social issues that are both long and deep.
Is it a kind of McCarthyism, or Institutional Racism, or Eugenics, or Anti Semitism, or etc. where the culture at large is so habituated to a kind of thinking that it’s hard to see around it so that it becomes a kind of accepted cultural norm?
Is it a kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where community leaders and members are slowly being replaced by free market “pea-pod” devotees who screetch Socialist, or Communist at any one whose notions differ from theirs?
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Here’s a rare piece of good news for public schools:
“Governor Wolf’s 2015-2016 proposed budget restores cuts to basic education and increases the state’s share of funding for public education to 50% for the first time in more than 40 years with a commitment to invest $2 billion in public education over the next four years.”
http://www.schoolsthatteach.com/
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I am so happy that Governor Wolf will give Pennsylvania a chance to recover from the draconian cuts they have experienced. I wish other state leaders could be retrained into seeing the errors of their ways.
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The mainstream media isn’t going to get it until they are are faced with “mainstream media reform.”
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