Allie Gross is a journalist in Detroit. She came to the city as a member of Teach for America and taught in a charter school. She thought she would change her students’ lives. But then she learned things about the charter school and its leadership staff that disillusioned her. I posted her account of her transformation two years ago. Since then, I have posted other articles she wrote. The previous post is her latest. I was very taken with it, because Ali showed deep understanding of the damage that school choice does to communities. I wondered how someone who came through TFA had this perspective. Ali suggested I re-read the piece she had written in 2014.
It is called “The Charter School Profiteers.”
I know what it means to become disillusioned and to change your mind. It’s not easy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I always have a lot of respect for people who can change their theories and beliefs in the light of evidence and experience. No, it’s not easy.
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Some of this is the fault of public universities in Michigan. They’re the authorizers and they’re the cheerleaders of ed reform in Michigan:
“Then there were the misguided academic choices. In my second year at PEC, Spanish classes were replaced with a Mandarin program through Michigan State University. With basic literacy in the school well below the national average, children were suddenly expected to master the characters and tones of a new language, all in the name of one day competing in the global marketplace. In reality the course — which cost the school $180,000 a year — quickly devolved into chopstick obstacle races and anime YouTube video sessions.”
You get the feeling they see ed reform as a cash cow. It’s a shame because Michigan public colleges and universities were always considered as an asset to the state. Now they’re just one more contractor.
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Well, of course ed reform is a cash cow, Chiara. Not just for people in the “education industry,” but also for those like Gates, the Waltons, Broad, et al, and for the universities as well.
Michigan colleges and universities have indeed been an asset, in the past, and the U. of Michigan and Michigan State have been well respected all over the country.
Ah, well. 😦
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Gross was right to become a journalist as she is an excellent writer. While reading her tale of the disturbing failure her experience in one of Detroit’s charter schools, I was overwhelmed by several emotions. I was insulted by the way in which training for teachers is disregarded. As in most endeavors, training makes a huge difference. I also was frustrated by the cast of administrator characters, none of whom was particularly effective. They were more interested in feathering their own nests than serving needy students. The layers of bureaucracy impeded meaningful change, and wasted funds that should go towards instruction. The irony here is that they always accuse public schools of having too much bureaucracy. In Detroit they created a culture of endless opportunism while ignoring accountability. I couldn’t help but think I was looking into a crystal ball to see what is about to happen with the new ESSA funds under DeVos.
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Far be it from me to defend Betsy DeVos but she’s getting a bit of a bad rap on ed reforms in Michigan.
The whole ed reform chorus backed Michigan’s ed reforms (as they did Ohio’s).
This has all been conveniently forgotten, but in 2012 they were all cheering on the EAA:
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says public schools in Detroit have improved in the last four years. Duncan was in Detroit today with Governor Rick Snyder. They toured a traditional public school and a school in the state’s Education Achievement Authority.
The EAA is a controversial state-run authority meant to turn around failing schools. Based on his tour today, Duncan says the EAA shows promise.”
It wasn’t just Duncan. They held a convention that year where everyone from Rhee to Broad endorsed Michigan charter schools. The original plan was to extend Detroit reforms statewide, and they almost succeeded. Broad himself lobbied to take it statewide. If ed reform had gotten their way the whole state would have been one huge privatization experiment.
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This line jumped out at me: “A further flaw with the marketplace solution is the premium it places on the superficial.”
So much said in so few words.
😎
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It’s like amateur night. They scramble around, and money changes hands to various providers. It’s like the “Keystone Cops,” but no one is an authentic educator. They are “posers,” not educators, or perhaps a better word would be imposters. The kids fall through the cracks like the struggling reader in the article. So sad!
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Remove me Stacey Hendrix Smilkovics@comcast.netStaceym@udel.edu
Remove yourself.
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Well, it’s not as though anybody is holding a gun to her head and forcing her to read this blog.
Or anything else on the Internet, for that matter. 😉
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Her allusions to ideas flowing from the top,down remind me of all the reform I have experienced in my 30 years. It never works. You water a plant that is already firmly grounded.
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