Because of the new leadership at the U.S. Department of Education, educators worry that political ideologies and unproven agendas will be pushed and imposed, rather than reforms based on best practice and research. In this article published in The Atlantic, the failures of the for-profit education reform sector are examined.
Detroit’s Cass Technical High School (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Referencing this older article about the complete restructuring of Detroit Public Schools, but it’s instructive for education reform efforts when parent Arlyssa Heard’s comments are considered:
“We have people making decisions who do not have children here and don’t know anything about what educators are facing in the classroom.”
Education reform efforts need to involve educators and parents, reliant on research and best practice and local influence, absent of ideology.
Paul Reville, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education Founder – Education Redesign Lab speaks during Poverty Matters: Making the Case for a System Overhaul at the Harvard Graduate School of Education inside Askwith Hall. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and Professor Paul Reville organize a series of nationwide meetings to address how high-quality educational opportunities can be experienced by students other than those in affluent neighborhoods. The solution? Community involvement, as teachers and principals cannot be solely responsible for any turnaround.
This article, posted by NPR‘s Morning Edition, provides insight into the current economic state of American education, with historical origins, and perspectives between low-income and affluent communities and school districts. It began with a question: “How do we pay for our schools?”
Today, our school funding system is infinitely more complex, but still based on that one, powerful idea — that education is a public good, and paying for it could be considered a public obligation.
Source: Education Week, U.S. Census Bureau. Credit: Alyson Hurt and Katie Park/NPR