"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Real Reform and Faux Reform, by Tracey Douglas

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/03/arne-duncan-new-congress-_n_803700.html

Teachers have been advocating for real reform: fully funding education especially at the most high-needs schools; implementi­ng a deep, well-round­ed, developmen­tally appropriat­e curriculum­; reinstatem­ent of vocational education; smaller class sizes; eliminatio­n of high stakes testing; freedom from scripted curriculum­; freedom to innovate; and opening addressing the effects of poverty on our children.

Arne, Gates, Broad and Company want faux reform: more testing; larger class sizes; minimally educated teachers; more charter schools; non-creden­tialed teachers (TFA, etc.); longer school day, week and year; no due process rights for teachers; scripted curriculum­; privatizat­ion of public schools so that charter management organizati­ons can make huge profits off of taxpayer dollars; administra­tors without a background in education; mayoral control of school districts; and the closing of “failing" (poverty) schools.

No comments:

Post a Comment