School reform continues to privatize and destroy public schools. August marks ten years since I began blogging. Within that time I have written two books and co-authored a third with Diane Ravitch. I’m proud of all this writing but Losing America’s Schools: The Fight to Reclaim Public Education is the book title that especially stands out today.
Many Americans still don’t understand or value their ownership of public schools, and how they’re losing one of the country’s great democratic institutions. Instead of working together to build up local schools, to iron out difficulties, they’re willing to end them.
Thank you for reading my blog, commenting, and for those of you who have written posts. I am amazed at the wonderful educators, parents, students, and policymakers I have met. I have appreciated debate.
Here are some of the main education issues still of concern.
The Arts
School arts programs help children thrive. Those with mental health challenges benefit. Students might find art jobs. Sadly, many poor public schools ditched the arts. Some schools might get Arts Partnerships or entrepreneurships (Hansen, 2019). These programs aren’t always consistent. Public schools must offer well-rounded and fully resourced K-12 arts programs.
Assessment
Assessment is important for teachers to understand students. But high-stakes standardized tests push a narrow, one-size-fits-all agenda used to drive parents to private schools which, on the other extreme, have little accountability. Tests have been harmful to students.
Class Size
Children deserve manageable class sizes, especially for K-3rd grade (STAR Study), and for inclusion and school safety.
Common Core State Standards
Controversy originally surrounded Common Core State Standards, promoted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010, but Common Core continues to drive profiteering, especially in online programs.
Stan Karp of Rethinking Schools said CCSS are:
A massively well-financed campaign of billionaires and politically powerful advocacy organizations that seeks to replace our current system of public education which, for all its many flaws, is probably the most democratic institution we have and one that has done far more to address inequality, offers hope, and provide opportunity than the country’s financial, economic, political, and media institutions with a market-based, non-unionized, privately managed system.
Corporations and Politicians
Corporations and politicians continue to work to end public schools and drive teachers out, transferring tax dollars to nonprofit and for-profit entities.
Covid
Educators are blamed for school closures and students falling behind, but teachers are responsible for keeping students and families safe. The CDC’s poor messaging didn’t help. The pandemic seemed designed to drive teachers out and end public schooling.
Data
In 2015, Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post featured a report, The astonishing amount of data being collected about your children about the data collected about children and how ten organizations funded by the Gates Foundation formed the Data Quality Campaign (DQC).
Information about your children’s behavior and nearly everything else that a school or state agency knows about them is being tracked, profiled, and potentially shared.
Behavioral data is also collected with Social Emotional Learning assessments.
In his 2023 State of the Union address, President Biden said:
We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit.
And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data these companies collect on all of us.
Diversity
Political groups have monopolized and dictated how teachers should teach, the books students can read, and history as they see it. As schools are forced to restrict societal change, dismissing differences that make us who we are, and parents send their students to schools based on their economic level, race, and religious beliefs, Americans become more divided.
Expectations
A pushdown of class requirements demands that students work at levels beyond what used to be expected. Few are looking into how this is affecting learning progress.
Media
The corporate-owned media often promotes a biased anti-teacher, anti-public-school agenda. Many reports serve as marketing ploys for online educational programs.
Parents
Many parents fight for great public schools. Their involvement should be valued. When services are denied or reduced, parents are driven out, but the options available are often not monitored.
Reading
Children driven to read earlier, by increasing high-stakes standards, appear to fail. Teachers and public schools are blamed. Parents seek reading programs marketing success, especially online programs and with private and charter schools lacking transparency. The reading wars promote an agenda that fosters profit while also condemning teachers and schools as failing.
Retention
Third grade has unnecessarily been turned into high pressure where children fail based on a questionable test. Not only does the research overwhelmingly denounce retention, but there are alternative ways to assist children. There’s no need to punish students (flunking).
Over 100 research studies in the last century show that grade retention predicts many negative student outcomes. Considering this, it is troubling that the highest retention rates are found among youths from poor, minority, and inner-city backgrounds (Jimerson, 2010).
School Boards
School board representation is critical. Tampering with this process destroys democratic public education. See the Houston Independent School District.
School Choice
Since A Nation at Risk, politicians and corporate shills have worked to privatize public education through vouchers, educational savings accounts, tax credits, and charter schools. Community schools are forced to rely on partners, often with social impact bonds to fund schools. Tax dollars are often not accounted for and there’s little transparency. This becomes a divisive system creating rich and poor schools.
School Facilities
Even after Covid, concerns abound about the school HVAC systems. Note the heat, the cold, or the asbestos in Philadelphia’s schools. Not improving school buildings is meant to replace teachers with screens. New schools are likely designed as cyber schools.
School Libraries and Librarians
Research shows that students thrive when they have a well-resourced school library and qualified librarians. Many poor schools have lost school libraries and librarians. Book banning endangers school libraries and freedom of speech. The Houston Independent School District turned school libraries into behavioral centers.
Special Education
When parents lose educational safeguards, it’s backsliding. School reformers never wanted to fund a free appropriate public education for all students. With IDEA reauthorizations in 1998 and 2004, student services shifted to general classes. Options dwindled. Parents desiring district special schools, like centers may be out of luck. Teacher preparation is also a concern.
Students
As they grow up to face problems they’ll need to solve, students continue to face one-size-fits-all assessment and instruction, much of it online, with little value for their individuality. They are also driven apart by a parallel and divided system of learning.
Teachers
The heavily promoted Teach for America alumnae became corporate reform darlings. Underprepared and funded at the low end of the pay scale, they led the way for other fast-track alternative teaching programs. Qualified teachers have been driven out. In some places, the shortage is so great, that almost anyone is allowed to teach.
Technology
As more teachers leave, school districts purchase online academic and behavioral assessment programs, driving online anyplace, anytime schooling. While it’s questionable whether this is innovative, it has certainly created disruption, as predicted.
Workforce
Educators and parents hope that their students will grow up to find careers they enjoy and will give back to society, a self-actualization process for the student. Many corporate CEOs and politicians mold public schools to produce the workers they want by taking control of the school curriculum. These two different goals are at odds with one another.
Summary
In ten years, education in America is still troubled. Intentionally defunded, public schools are a shell of what they could have become, run by those with little understanding of how children learn and develop, and with the intention to privatize.
Without free democratic public schools open to all children, bringing children together to learn, and embraced by Americans, this country’s future looks dim.
I welcome discussion and any additional concerns.
References
Hanson, J. (2019). Entrepreneurship among Public School Arts Educators: The Case of Music Teachers in New York State. Artivate, 8(1), 45–66. https://doi.org/10.1353/artv.2019.0000
Strauss, V. (2015, November 12). An astonishing amount of data is being collected about your children. The Washington Post, Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/12/the-astonishing-amount-of-data-being-collected-about-your-children/.
I watched the NBC education teacher shortage piece twice, and while I found it to be rather lightweight, I didn’t hear them even mention cost cutting through teacher attrition much less as a plus. There are so many reasons for the problems in public education, most of which can probably put at the doors of corporate America looking at education as an excellent way to line their pockets either through pushing charters and vouchers with poor to no oversight to building a false narrative around the failure of public schooling through standardized testing. Your summary of ongoing issues is far more illuminating than the NBC piece. It boggles the mind that talking heads are still pontificating about why teachers are leaving the profession and why more young people are not entering the field after the last few decades of attempts to dismantle public education and de-professionalize teaching.
Thanks, Cynthia. I appreciate your letting me know about the NBC report. It is different from the report I saw so I removed it. And I appreciate your other comments.
Thanks, Nancy, for your excellent summary. The privatizers know exactly what they are doing and why. The public, and especially parents, continue to be uninformed about the goals and methods of the privatizers.
Thank you, Diane. Sadly, you’re correct, and we can only hope they’ll wake up and come around.
Often overlooked is the corporate cash cow produced by changes in standards. The coerced adoption of Common Core math and language arts standards have sucked hundreds of billions of dollars from district education coffers over the past 10 years in the futile pursuit of increased test scores.
Somewhat under the radar lie the Next Generation Science Standards, the bastard spawn of Common Core standards. There are now 44 states that have either directly adopted the new science standards or have created their own iterations of these standards. These states represent 70% of students, creating a “customer” base of 35+ million – and their teachers. These are K to 12 standards that demand a complete revision, retooling, and resupplying of science curricula, and corporate America is more than happy to provide the resources. Just give “NGSS resources” a Google and get a glimpse of the companies drooling at the money trough created by this change in standards.
A reminder that science is also a federally mandated, “tested subject” at the elementary and middle levels courtesy of the ESSA. The kicker is, the multi-billions that districts will spend on the NGSS over the next decade (or more) will be wasted on a common-core-like set of standards that are not only developmentally inappropriate, pushing abstract physical science concepts down into the elementary level – but are premised on ineffective and debunked methodologies such as discovery learning that constrain and limit the science topics that can be covered. NGGS also largely eschews two cornerstones of traditional science education: the scientific method and metric measurement – while making the huge mistake of conflating the ways that adult scientists and engineers make discoveries and solve problems with the best ways that novice science students learn. And when science scores tank (as they did in CA) the media and politicians will jump all over the decline in science education, generating another flurry of panic that corporate America will gladly offer $olution$ to. Ha!
This is all true and very disturbing, Rick. Common Core State Standards continue to be reflected in many curriculum programs, and NGSS are there too. Yet the standards haven’t improved learning results on the basis of more testing. I’m watching for how many of these programs advertising CCSS will be online, especially as teachers leave. Thanks for sharing.
After teaching nearly all subjects, but primarily art (drawing and painting plus so much more) to the most at-risk students for more than 30 years, I know (I lived it with my students) the arts are a catalyst to divergent thinking. I had angry students with a plethora of issues who, by participating in the arts’ process, became calm, problem solving young people. Students who were not supposed to care listened to me tell them about Gustav Klimt, Vermeer, Picasso, Edvard Munch. The arts were texts for their souls. I had a friend of mine who taught at the local community college stop by my classroom with his colleague from Alaska. She observed my room and told me, “You are totally teaching art therapy. Keep doing what you do.” Many of my students continued to process in the arts at college, businesses, tattoo shops, and whatnot. Of course, many of my art students (if they had not failed at the comprehensive high school) would have never experienced the arts with. me as I brought out their “artist within” the real way (I not only worked in graphic design, have a BS in Applied Art/Design and studied in Chicago at the Arts Institute on my own dime) to make sure my kids had the best arts experience ever. They are waaaaaaaaay better for it. But, as typical, many arts programs have been cut. My was and there is nothing at the middle schools (where in the 90s we had an exemplar program). Now there is simply an after-school program taught by a non-arts person where as I call they do mostly crafts. As you wrote, I have been part of the public education rollercoaster ride moving farther and farther from doing what is right by our students (finding their diamonds) to simply passive learning seat time. Blessings.
I find it amazing that there isn’t a greater outcry about the loss of the arts in public schools. All students benefit and it brings out the best in everyone. I often wonder what great artists we’ve lost in all art areas because they didn’t have access to fully functioning art programs throughout school. And like the loss of school librarians, losing real art teachers hurts students too. Thank you for sharing your situation, Rick.
What Rick says about Chicago Public schools is true for art and music. They are viewed as optional for the testing framework and all that he says is true. I have seen so many times over – the child who is coming to school for art or music out of love for the subject.
Thank you for remembering us librarians because we are missing from CPS now also.
It never ceases to amaze me, that there are those who accepted this as OK. But it makes sense if what is enjoyable and right about public ed is removed so it will drive parents to seek what’s missing in other places, whether it be the arts or libraries and librarians. Those are both serious educational losses. Thanks, Sara.
Being a former art teacher and, currently, a struggling writer, I don’t believe the arts should be pigeon holed for the creation of artists. I had the pleasure of teaching numerous talented young artists, but perhaps the most important role I played was convincing as many of my students as possible that we all have creative contributions to give to our world. We spend a great deal of time promoting excellence in a given field based on “being the best.” Perhaps the most important argument for the arts is that should never be about being the “best”, but how does the individual present the most authentic self. Periodically I hear from former students and the best compliment I get is that I introduced them to a new world. The worst thing we have done to the arts is relegating it to a frill; a mere form of entertainment. Since the beginning of civilization, art of all kinds has been the most substantive thing humankind has done. We would not have the sciences, mathematics, or quantum mechanics without it. That is why it his critical that a public school renaissance requires an infusion of the arts as a means to the greater good.
Thank you for your kind words. Just to clarify, although I was primarily an art teacher, I was told, “You know you can’t teach art all day; they won’t allow that. You need to teach other subjects.” I became a “utility man” and taught nearly all subjects yet always found a way to incorporate art to enhance learning and that didn’t mean “coloring.” But, always, always, my passion was teaching critical thinking via the arts. The arts (drawing and painting, but I incorporated song/dance as well — there is never one way to solve a problem. In fact, in a parent/teacher meeting one of my students would not write no matter what, but he loved to draw. I incorporated “Picturing Writing” and sort of tricked him into writing. He had a picture filled with super heroes. I told him I wanted to share his picture but I didn’t want to mess up how I described his characters. I said, “Can you write down what is going on in your picture because it is so wonderful I might explain it the wrong way.” He wrote a page of more. Yes! The arts were a catalyst to keep students attending school. My student demographics were mostly dysfunctional. Inside me was “Project HOPE” Helping Our Pupils Excel. This meant listening and finding what would help them be sustainable young adults and not to make them “artists” but many found out because they had an art class, they could create something on their own; I was there to provide as much of my advantage as I could. Many summers (on my own dime) I would fly to place like Boston (to study the US Constitution); Washington D.C. (to study Humanitarian Law via the Red Cross) and to what I loved TICA (Teachers Institute for Contemporary Art) at the Arts Institute of Chicago. I never dreamed I would be accepted into any of these institutes of higher learning, but I persevered because I wanted my students to realize just because they went to the “crap school” didn’t mean they got a “loser teacher.” I incorporated higher-learning concepts (kids at the comprehensive high schools receive what I knew) and mimicked how I learn, i.e., art history as taught by the MOMA. It was important for the kids to know that the arts have their own language; they generate dialogue; they create revolution (Diego Rivera and Freida Kahlo) and document history. I was told more often than not, “If you only would incorporate more science and math into your art, then maybe we might be able to keep your classes.” Obvious the mindset was “I am ignorant to what is intrinsic in the arts.” The many arts people I worked with fought for the arts, but it was not a priority. I am not one to “make stuff up” and I know the arts works because I was the “Mr. Finney — Boy Meets World” of our school district because I taught elementary, middle, high school, and continuation high school. I, therefore, had many of the same students as little ones and then as they grew older. What’s more, when you live in the same town for more than 30 years, those kids grow up and I actually get to see if anything I did or said or whatnot helped. My wife works at the bank and there is not a day that she comes home and tells me, “A young man asked me if I was related to “Mr. Charvet the art teacher. I said I am his wife.” She went on to say they wanted to know how I was doing and told her about their families, job and that I was one of the teachers who really helped them get through “troubled times.” As stated, many of my kids were in gangs, angry, had mental issues. But, I always told them, “You will be okay and I will be there with you for the ride. You know what? Just “paint it out” and I think you will be okay. Thanks for letting me share. Oh, here is something I love. https://gilroylife.com/2019/06/07/education-project-h-o-p-e-helps-motivate-and-inspire-struggling-students/ AND https://gilroylife.com/2020/01/31/brownell-students-draw-on-creativity-to-solve-problems-initiate-change/
Wow! What a great teacher, Rick! It’s sad they didn’t let you focus only on the arts, treating the arts like they were some fringe class. You obviously prepared well and I know many students benefited. All students benefit from a great arts program and public schools would benefit to recognize that and search for dedicated art teachers like you! Thank you for sharing your experiences.
@Nancy — Thank you. It is a breath of fresh air to be able to tell my stories “from the trenches” without fear of retribution. I never stayed “between the lines.” I always thought, “If I were sitting where my students were would anything I did or say or taught help them? Or would I just be regurgitating text that they could read for themselves? I often found school boring, so I tried to make it “magical” where all could follow their dreams and flourish. I still am in contact with many of my students as they are about to turn 40. I also taught “Artist Within” summer camps. As mentioned, last night my wife said a woman was in the bank and said, “Are you related to Mr. Charvet, the art teacher?” She said yes. The woman went on to say her daughter was autistic and I was so good with her. In fact, she still paints today as she nears 20 years old. I never wanted a “trophy” for what I did, but I did “my thing” and the best thing for these kids. Yeah, the arts save lives in more ways than one.
@Nancy — I just got this in my email this morning. This sounds like it is worth a read/peruse to see how the arts are so important to all aspects of education.
https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/the-connected-arts-learning-framework.pdf
Hi Rick. Thanks for taking the time to send this to me. And I’ve scanned it and plan to read it thoroughly later.
There’s much that can be said about the connection between the arts and academics. However, it is troubling that the arts for the art’s sake is not valued.
In addition, having public schools rely on partners for the arts or any subject opens the door to social impact bonds and only sometimes creates a stable program. Public school funding should go to the arts because the arts are important for a well-rounded school for children.
@Nancy — I agree. I never liked giving an outside source funding that could have been used for in-school items. I spent most of my time getting help from our local art gallery (she gave me old mat board and frames/glass, and whatever I needed) to support my class. And, most of the supplies I spent out of my own pocket. But, I became a very resourceful “dumpster diver.” With outside sources, there is always some catch that I did not like. I actually had to return a May V. Seagoe Grant because I didn’t have the money to “front” before I was reimbursed. Luckily, I applied again and won! I, financially, was in a better place and could spend my money, then get reimbursed. I spent many nights researching for grants and “free stuff” to supplement my program and that’s how I ended up going to the School of the Arts Institute Chicago, Boston University: We the People – the citizen and the constitution; and Washington, D.C. working with the Red Cross in Humanitarian Law. I never thought anyone would be interested in some “rural teacher from Gilroy, CA” in higher-learning institutions. I tell you, just like the kids, there were times when I felt I was the “dumbest person” around. But, like always, I held my own and that’s how I taught my students. But, most importantly, I like the wording in the Wallace Report about how the arts are intrinsic in all disciplines. And yes, a painting can be used as text. And yes, if taught correctly, that same painting can teach English, History, Civics, and, of course, the arts. As you stated, it is a fight to have the arts in schools. I was told I could teach more art if I called it, “Art in Science” and “Art in Math.” You know as long as it was called that. And I thought, “Geez, mixing paint is ratios uh, chemistry; art is geometry, measurement, and whatnot. I am so thankful for my community members who helped me along the way to provide a solid experience for the kids. Thank you for making me feel accomplished.
I simply believe that public education should include support for the arts and teachers. You are to be commended for perfecting your artistic creativity as a teacher. I’m sure a lot of students benefited. Thanks for describing your path.
@Nancy — I sincerely appreciate your correspondence and allowing me to tell my “tales from the trenches” without fear of retribution. My hope is that perhaps my experiences may help others. Thank you so much. Blessings.
Thank you for your interesting and inspirational comments about teaching the arts, Rick.
Thank you, Rick, for your 30 years of teaching students as unique human beings, rather than as widgets to be squashed into slots for the benefit of billionaires and corporate CEO’s. I love your statement: “The arts were texts for their souls.” The powers that be care nothing for souls. The “innovative” agenda has been a travesty, one that we may never recover from. As I just wrote elsewhere on a different topic: reckless endangerment and depraved indifference.
Absolutely! Thank you, Rick. Thanks, Sheila.
Spot on, As usual.
Thank you for writing. The data collection on minor children without their parents express consent is out of control. It wouldn’t be enough to reign in Big Tech but it must be done. FERPA was significantly weakened (including under the Obama administration) to allow the collection of minor children’s personally identifiable information and school leaders are complicit in this collection as they and their tech people are wined, dined, and entertained (and sometimes paid) by ed tech vendors who then sell products to their schools.
Even as art and music are cut in schools, school administration staff and their salaries continue to increase with no corresponding improvement in academic outcomes. It’s frustrating to see art and music get cut due to budget cuts while administrators continue to grow their ranks and compensation packages.
Public school leaders also need to remember that educating everyone mean educating everyone. It’s also frustrating to see California hold students back in math and have school districts across the country not treat special education students well.
Nancy
Would you please briefly outline why the extensive and highly successful campaign for school choice conducted by Catholic Conferences aligned with the Koch network is not a concern? The legal scholar credited as most influential in promoting religious charter schools is Amy Comey Barrett’s good friend at Notre Dame, Nicole Stelle Garnett, who is a Manhattan Institute (Koch) Fellow.
In 2021, The National Catholic Reporter wrote, about, “Napa (Tim Busch), Koch Funding… ,” on the campus of Notre Dame. Btw- ACE (on the Notre Dame campus) regularly conducts seminars to train advocates for school choice.
Critics of the acceptance of Napa and Koch funding were quoted about the issue of the co-branding of the school with social Darwinist libertarians. The article includes the impact of Leonard Leo and the efforts of Vincent Phillip Munoz (invited Charles Murray to speak on campus in 2017). Munoz founded the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. Dr. Munoz is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute.
Notre Dame also has a de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. Anthony de Nicola, a hedge funder, was very involved in promoting school choice in Milwaukee during the recent GOP primary debate. Politico wrote in 2015 about a “huddling” of deNicola, Bishop Timothy Dolan, the head of the Catholic Conference’s education section and Gov. Cuomo which was followed by Cuomo’s campaign to get tax credits for Catholic schools.
The Executive Director of the Colorado Catholic Conference was formerly with the Koch network and EdChoice. Her credentials are not unique among staff of the Catholic Conferences.
Any of your blog readers who haven’t read, “The new official contents of sex education in Mexico: laicism in the crosshairs,” should. The content is much broader than the title indicates and the US is referenced.
Questions about credibility of public school defenders who ignore major players in the undermining of public schools are warranted?
Thank you for your comment. I AM concerned about Catholic aggression to obtain vouchers and wondered about their relationship with Betsy DeVos who visited Catholic schools during Covid. Your comment is interesting, sinister, and I recognize bits and pieces of what you wrote, but I’m afraid I have not been well enough versed to write authoritatively about it. I have criticized Kochs and EdChoice. Also, interesting how Cuomo during Covid tried to push online learning on public schools.
If you’re implying that I’m somehow a fan of those you note here, or approve of Darwinist libertarians and Charles Murray, rest assure that’s not correct. I cover a lot and I will try to look into this. You might also consider writing a blog to inform us. This is interesting.
Thank you for your reply.
Catholic operations in Florida and Indiana publicly take credit for the initiation and passage of school choice legislation.
Paul Weyrich, funded by Koch, was a co-founder of ALEC and the Heritage Foundation. He was right wing Catholic and called for parallel schools to destroy public schools. His training manual is posted at Theocracy Watch.
Thanks again. I’ll be looking into all this. It’s appreciated.
I deeply regret ever sending my children to public schools, chiefly because the reading curriculum was simply not based in reality.
What does this have to do with religion? And it would help to explain in more detail what you mean. Also, there are underfunded schools that might not teach reading as well as wealthier schools.
But that’s exactly the point. None of this has to do with religion.
The ideologues running public schools are failing, and looking for scapegoats. You’re changing the subject.
I pulled my kids out of public schools The Catholic church is not to blame. The reading curriculum (and the writing curriculum) were disconnected from reality. That’s why my kids are gone.
The reading and writing curriculum is really bad, and, judging by Friday’s news, Columbia University, which just dissolved the TCRWP agrees.
I’m sorry to disagree with you. Many parochial and private schools want tax dollars to go to their schools. Many do not want to fund religious schools. Most show no accountability like public schools. For all I know some may also use the programs you’re dismissing in public schools. That’s been known to happen. They purchase reading programs too!
You may not have liked the reading program in your child’s school but that doesn’t mean that every public school is failing. You seem to be a Science of Reading enthusiast. I have not written about Lucy’s program but not all public schools used it and likely some children benefited and others may not have. I haven’t studied it. I don’t see anyone writing about iReady the online program that has been in schools for years.
You’re performing a consistent shift, twist, and attack pattern.
Shift the context, twist the moral landscape of the conversation, and attack.
I see it all the time. Here’s how it works in public schools.
Parent points out problem with reading curriculum?
1) Shift the context to broader issue… race, sex, income inequality, religion… any hot button topic
2) Twist the conversation in that context to frame the parent as being associated with a group that isn’t ideologically up to snuff.
3) Attack the moral standing of the parent.
It’s a smart, effective way to defend power against truth. No hate, here, it’s just a game people see again and again and again.
The problem is because this way of reasoning doesn’t center true, it’s parasitical on communities that do.
And when those communities fail or flee the institution that’s ostensibly being defended fails. too.
I’m sorry you see disagreement as attack. Brian, I write about many issues as displayed here, not only reading. Although I did teach reading for many years, and I chose that area because I want children, especially those struggling with disabilities, to be able to learn how to read. I am not trying to play any game. I’m sorry your public school didn’t work out, and I am not challenging your reality in the least. I am just not sure that’s always the reality in every public school. I fear many public schools are not doing well due to underfunding and the loss of good teachers. I only wish the best for your children learning to read in whatever school you choose.
Your willingness to look Into it is appreciated.
For those who read the NYT article, “DeSantis joined the ruling class,” (Aug 20- New York edition),
the reporter, Nicholas Confessore, didn’t correct De Santis’ claim of a public education. DeSantis attended the private Our Lady of Lourdes before attending public high school. His Catholic school currently has 15% of the student population who are children of color. Florida has 47%. Ron attended an Ivy League after high school.
Thank you, Nancy, for this excellent summary of what we face. I remember when I first raised the topic of privatization to non-teacher friends, they looked at me like I’d lost my mind. So many of us Cassandras out here!
One thing that limits an understanding of these anti-democratic “reforms” is that educational professionals remain engaged long enough over a career to see the arc of change and the direction in which it is headed. Parents in general have a much briefer relationship to public schools – often just the time their own children attend school, so they lack the historical knowledge we have. Trouble is, undermining our professionalism has had the side benefit of making it easy to dismiss our concerns and ignore our recommendations for improving education for every kid.
Thank you, Christine. I have mentioned reforms and the individuals who are involved to blank stares. It’s frustrating.
What you say about parents is especially true. We remember when Common Core was rolled out. Parents today know little about it or they’ve been convinced the standards are fine because they’ve been there so long.
“…the Catholic Church in Ohio and nationwide has consistently advocated for public policy…school of their choice.”
From the Catholic Conference of Ohio website
Thanks for sharing. I’m collecting your comments. Religion is definitely an item I should have included in this post.
Maoists called them “wreckers.”
It’s a sure sign of a cult when rather than aligning with reality an organization that’s failing its people looks for external scapegoats to explain failures and starts blocking the exits.
No one would be clamoring for lifeboats if the ship weren’t sinking.
I’d like to suggest a history lesson. Start with A Nation at Risk. Then find a copy of the popular The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public Schools by David Berliner and Bruce Biddle. I think you will appreciate this book and possibly have a change of heart.
Again, shift, twist, attack.
Before speaking to firsthand observations, as a parent, I have to buy into a particular frame (the shift), one that posits that there is an “attack” by outsiders and that the problems I’m experiencing firsthand are “manufactured.” (the twist).
Then, the attack: by speaking out about my experience I’m an ally, witting or unwitting of the Koch Brothers or the Catholic Church or Moms for Liberty or capitalist roaders.
You’re asking me to step into a simulacrum of reality, rather than speak to the reality I saw in my kids classroom, and when dealing with public school leaders firsthand. You’re asking me to accept that 2+2=4.
This is an old tactic. It’s not an unsophisticated one, with deep roots in the of phenomenological ideas of Hegel, and beyond, and a mode of thinking that became a signature of a number of mass movements of recent times.
But it’s not useful at discussing the truth of situation. You say public schools are unraveling, a parent shows up to report that what he saw was bad reading and writing instruction and an increasingly hermetic, cult-like culture and suggest reeducation.
Old pattern.
Actually, the reference to religion was from another comment and I thought it interesting. I think I should have added religion to the list as it is a part of the discussion about public schools at this time.
Thank you for this summary.
A clear place where you can really see all of the unraveling is in early childhood education (grades Prek -3rd grade). Public Prek, which is a plus on so many levels, is being co-opted by big publish and corporations. Teachers must choose from a group of commercial programs to adopt for their classrooms. They cannot use emergent curriculum or locally developed curriculum that meets the needs of specific children or regions of the country. In many kindergartens, you see more and more programs that look like first grade (and not a good first grade). There are guided reading programs, days spent in mostly whole group instruction, art has been removed, blocks are missing, puzzles are gone, and, in many cases, outdoor recess has been reduced to 15 minutes if that much time. In addition to all this, there are many kindergartens staffed by teachers who are not ECE certified because of the overlap between early childhood certifications and elementary certifications. Many principals prefer to hire elementary grade certified teachers (k-6 or k-8) so they can move them to teach in more grades.
This is all a mess. On top of all this, policymakers use “artificially” created benchmarks for each grade that then allow them to say that our children are not learning or that they have had learning loss from the Pandemic. If the children are not meeting these benchmarks, then let’s find out what they did not learn and start from where they are. We also need to find out what strengths they developed during the Pandemic and attend to their social emotional needs that researchers have been saying need attention in order for them to learn.
Absolutely, Nora! All of it. Thank you!
Correction, you’re asking me to accept that 2+2=5. Read 1984 if you don’t know the reference.
Hi Nancy –
What’s your take ion this?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/teachers-union-demands-ending-basic-skills-test-for-teachers/ar-AA1kqAzb?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1aeddaccc17b43949004c28a4d2a3498&ei=121
Hi Jeff, My answer might surprise you. I’m not opposed to testing teachers on what they will teach, as long as those tests are deemed fair and other teachers in the field create the questions in that same area.
Also, I would permit teachers to petition the testing results if they don’t score well. I once knew of a popular teacher who missed the cutoff score by a few points. I don’t know the specifics, but it might have involved math. A teacher who is superb at teaching language arts for example, but who doesn’t do well in math, should not be penalized in math. They shouldn’t have to take a math test if they won’t be teaching it.
Elementary teachers should take a math test at the level they’ll be teaching but should not have to prove themselves in higher-level math. This has been a complaint.
Teachers should have their knowledge tested in teaching throughout their university preparation in the subject they’ll teach, and if they’ve studied well, they should be able to master a test in their area. Thanks for asking such an important question.
Oh, the testing thing. Before I knew “anything about anything” in “teacher world” people kept telling me I would be a great teacher because of my patience, the ability to look a the entire student paradigm and move forward with the best plan for the student. I was the first in my family to attend college and honestly my mom said, “just apply.” That’s how much we knew. Counselors were not much help except to remind me I might not get into college. I went on to earn a BS in Applied Art/Design from Cal Poly SLO and then moved into the creative arts. Times changed and it all moved to “freelance” artists so unless one was the absolute best, not much work for a starving artist. Fast forward to me being married with my kids and deciding to enter the teaching world. I found a place that would accept me (I specifically told them I did not want to be disregarded because of my 2.3 GPA. I had to take the National Teachers Exam. I bought some books and studied for at least 3 hours a night and had no idea what specifically they would ask. I had to take the test in SF on a cold, rainy early morning. I had to drive 3 hours, spend he night at my grandparents, then drive across the bridge for testing. I got lost, but made it. They herded us like cattle into waiting rooms and then into even smaller testing rooms. I am a person who likes “personal space” when testing and I felt totally cramped. In the end, I scored a 659. Passing was 660. I could have quit then and tell myself, “Dude you tried, but this teaching is not for you.” There was so much to remember, but the test was nothing like what I studied. I am a researcher, so I found a practice curriculum guide that mirrored the test. I studied that and then took the test again at Santa Clara University where there were high ceilings and plenty of leg space. I remember thinking out loud. In the end, I scored a 687 with high marks in English and Science. The teacher prep program had already decided to “cut me loose” because my GPA when I was 18-19 was too low. I had take a reading course and had two classes left that I had to drop or lose my money I paid while I petitioned for getting into the program. I remember getting a letter a few months later telling me “because of you excellent test results” you can be in our program,. I had to retake the reading course (I was already earning an A) over again. Later during my teaching tenure, teachers had to create a teacher portfolio. I asked, “Do you have examples?” Their reply, “No, you just do it and then we decide if you passed or not.” I thought that was stupid. Of course, I put together a portfolio, had page dividers, student work, student reflections, and whatnot. The principal said, “Too hard to navigate.” I asked, “And can you provide me some guidance?” He could not. Another instance on “teacher testing” was for the CLAD. I spent many weekends putting together curriculum to be mailed off to San Juaquin County Office of Ed. I got my test results back and they said I didn’t pass. I called the people and told them, “You know my school district is going to remove me” so let’s cut to the chase and tell me exactly what I need to fix. The person on the other end said, “Okay I will help you.” Lots of “we want you to do this” but yeah, like, we don’t know what it looks like. I loved the part after years of exemplar reviews now I was going to be removed. In the end, by missing a test by one point, I knew it was a lesson for my students: you want to quit, or do you want to succeed? And what I found over the years is multiple choice tests never let one explain WHY they selected their answer. I witnessed many students get the wrong answer and then I asked them, “Why?” and they had a highly-logical answer. In the end, like Nancy stated, teachers need to be supported and if they miss something, they need guidance in doing things correctly, not “You didn’t pass now you are not a qualified teacher.”
Thanks, Rick. I can identify. I’m not a great test taker.
I scored 134/134 on the CLAD written portion (on of the most numbing of all tests), but missed the objective by one point (109/110). I just told myself, “Now you know how it feels so when one of your students doesn’t do well, you can totally relate.” But, even though I could have quit, I just retired after 32 years, helped thousands of students succeed, and was nominated for “Teacher of the Year” twice.. Like you said, as long as there is support and a clear guideline many teachers will do just fine. Some times when you miss, you make it. Happy Holidays.
Thanks for sharing and for all you did for students, Rick. Happy Holidays to you too!
Why don’t they leave the schools alone and let the teachers do their job? Too many outsiders are making all the decisions. When was the last time they were in a classroom? They don’t have a clue about the added stress they are giving these teachers. Technology… in school, I don’t agree with. Bring back books. That way they actually have to read to find the answers, verses using Google search. What are they learning from that? I worked in a classroom 16 years, and the change is mind blowing. With the phones, these kids are losing the ability to communicate verbally. They have no common sense. I cringe at the thought of these kids running our country. The class of 2016 was the last graduation class that I would give time to. Our country is in serious trouble.
I agree. Thank you, Trina, for taking the time to comment.