GOING . . . GOING . . .

GONE!!

 

To find out what is gone, listen to this recording -- worth the 7 or so minutes  to find out what happens to education once it has been "reformed."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBSgchJe2Z0

Letter from Washington – Part III   What SHOULD we be doing?

So here is the historical perspective.  For decades the “reformers” have been pushing this concept that our schools are broken and need fixing.  The truth is that our schools are among the best in the world* when we take out those in high poverty areas.    The problem, of course, is poverty, not “bad teachers" or "broken schools."

Regardless, the so-called reformers came up with a bunch of ideas to “help”:

·        Fire all the teachers and hire new ones (which leaves us with few experienced teachers in the neediest schools, and broken trust)

·        Test, test and test again.

·        State take-overs, which unempowers citizens

·        Schools of choice (as the best students leave, they take their money with them, so the neediest schools, then, are under-funded)

·        Because  schools are under-funded, there are severe cuts to art, music, P.E., school nurses, school librarians.

·        Vouchers

When people who understand education don’t go along with these ridiculous measures the so-called reformers say it is to defend the status quo because we only care about the adults in the situation, not the students.  (Unbelievalby, the world buys this stuff.)

"What is your solution?"  They ask.

So here are some actual solutions suggested by Dr. Diane Ravitch:

·        Full, rich curriculum with arts, history, music, P.E.

·        Certified, qualified teachers in every classroom

·        Superior and principled educators (teachers, principals and superintendents).

·        Local control

·        Counselors, librarians, social workers, psychologists, school nurses.

·        Real assessments for students, rather than high-stakes testing

·        Genuine teacher evaluations rather than basing evaluations on testing , which was never the purpose of the tests in the first place.

·        Professional autonomy

·        NO MORE SCRIPTED CURRICULUM!!


Thanks for your interest in this topic.  Next up:  we heard from the students raised on No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Mary Valentine


If you have a chance, "like" or "friend" the facebook page of Citizens to Preserve Public Education.