Ken Mitchell, who recently retired as a school superintendent, attempts to shed light on thorny problems in current education policy in this article.
No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have been dismal failures, and their main result appears to be the creation of chaos and incoherence at the local level. Both assume that standardized tests are not only the measure of education but the goal of education. Legislators are reacting by passing laws about how to evaluate teachers, a subject about which they are not expert and not well-informed.
Mitchell calls for the creation of an education summit, but with a twist:
It is time for an education summit, but not one that emanates from the governor’s office.
The governor has appointed commissions on mandate relief, school reform, and Common Core, naming members who often lacked expertise or objectivity. This time we need a summit involving stakeholders: teachers, principals, superintendents, parents and school boards. We need a de-politicized venue to ensure an objective analysis of the evidence behind current and proposed reforms related to assessment, teacher evaluation, Common Core and charter schools. If policymakers continue to mandate without evidence and allow profiteers to influence educational decisions, children will be harmed and public education ruined.
His suggestion makes sense. The Legislature should listen to the experts, rather than attempt to regulate the teaching profession. They would never dream of passing laws to evaluate the medical profession or any other profession. Why should they tell principals and superintendents how to evaluate teachers?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ken Mitchell is asking the right questions. His suggestions are very sound and reasoned. Unfortunately, reason has left the building in New York state. Our leaders are not interested in the input of professionals, parents or students. They want to dictate, bash and burn through Cuomo’s scorched earth policy. Teachers, parents and students must continue to resist by allowing students to refuse to take the tests.
I think this is a great idea. To have credibility, it will need to have several organizations with different constituencies to organize it. Eg. Teachers Unions, Superintendents, Boards of Education, parent groups, etc.
This is the most sensible idea to come along in a long time. As a former resident of New York State I just cannot believe what Cuomo and his ilk are doing to the entire education system of the state or that he even was elected.
The DEFORMERS think: BREAK EVERYTHING and then we will reign. Honest. They truly believe that public schools should be destroyed by a drone, then the DEFORMERS can make $$$$$$ and privatize education.
Excellent idea, but since the devil is in the details, how does one start a practical process to begin the discussion, empirically? ekangas@juno.com
This is not just a NY issue. It sounds like an excellent question for discussion at the NEP conference in April.