President-elect Obama has made his choice.
I think it is safe to say that after jump-starting our faltering economy, the next domestic crisis looming over the Obama administration is what to do about our public schools. The enormity of this task is fully evidenced by the fact that Obama has already made his selection for virtually every other cabinet position of note, but just announced his choice for education secretary. The stakes were high as this choice quietly, but pointedly, was simmering into what was (fairly or not) being characterized as an ideological “war.”
In one corner, we purportedly had the teachers and teachers unions. As Libby Quaid from the Associated Press reported (“Obama’s education pick sparks conflict”), teachers wanted someone who would be a strong advocate for their concerns; such as Obama advisor Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor, or Inez Tenenbaum, the former state schools chief in South Carolina.
In the other corner we had the so-called “reformers.” As Quaid wrote, “Reform advocates want someone like New York schools chancellor Joel Klein, who wants teachers and schools held accountable for the performance of students.” Arne Duncan, the current CEO of Chicago Public Schools and an Obama confidant, was also a popular choice.
And now we know it is to be Duncan.
Duncan is certainly a thoughtful and pragmatic choice and this selection is receiving generally positive reviews. But there are still concerns, particularly among teachers and teacher unions. At the root of the problem is the proverbial 800-pound elephant in the room when talking about education reform and policy. It can be summed up in one word—
Accountability.
Accountability is, of course, a good thing. In the value-driven private sector, accountability and employability generally go hand-in-hand. You are deemed responsible for the product you create. So when we have an educational system where 1 child drops out of high school every 26 seconds; where the graduation rate in our 50 largest urban centers hovers around 50% and where American students are falling behind students from other industrialized countries in virtually every statistical category, it certainly seems reasonable, at first glance, to hold our teachers and schools accountable for the performance of our students.
But I think we are missing something. Though it seems logical to point to our teachers and schools when confronted with student outcomes like these, if we peel back the layers a bit, something about this seems just a bit unfair. Yes, there are some bad teachers who certainly need to pursue a different line of work. Yes, there are some chronically underperforming schools that probably need to be closed. But the problems go deeper than that. Much deeper.
One analogy keeps coming to mind. Before joining the chorus of voices laying blame squarely at the feet our teachers or our schools, I can’t help but think about this—I find myself mentally juxtaposing our approach towards funding education to our approach towards funding and fighting a war.
When we go to war, we spare no expense because lives are on the line. (The war in Iraq, for example, will cost American taxpayers more than $3 Trillion dollars). We make sure that our fighting men and women have the latest and most advanced equipment, so we spend billions more on research and development. We do this because of the value that we place on human life—each and every human life. To send a solider to war without the tools necessary to save lives and to win the war would be more than an outrage; it would be a crime.
But our teachers are soldiers.
Shouldn’t our teachers be afforded the same right? They are soldiers as well; soldiers on the front line of the most important battle that we as a nation have or will ever fight. No, it is not a battle fought with bullets and guns. This is a battle for the hearts and minds of our children. This is a battle for the future of our nation.
And it is a battle we cannot lose.
But what are the tools that we give them? Worn and recycled textbooks? Overhead projectors? Schools, as noted by David Thornburg, “predominantly driven by the awesome power of a sheet of slate and a stick of chalk?” Classrooms where you might see a few computers scattered in the back of the room, largely unused, while the technology that is so ubiquitous in every other facet of our society is relegated, literally, to the back of the educational bus?
We give our teachers this and then we tell them to leave no child behind or we’ll hold them accountable, hold back their kids or close their schools.
Does that seem fair to you?
I would challenge any of the private sector pundits or talking heads on television to try to open a business, any business, using only the tools you find in most inner-city middle or high school classrooms. I suspect most would walk into the classroom, turn to me with a look of pure panic and say, “I don’t have the tools.”
Exactly.
So it seems to me that it doesn’t really matter who we appoint as education secretary unless we first ask ourselves this—Do our teachers and schools really have the tools they need in order to excite our students, to engage our students and to prepare our students to compete and succeed in the 21st century? If we don’t answer that question correctly, I don’t know if the appointment of Arne Duncan, or anyone else for that matter, will really make a difference.
I think it is safe to say that after jump-starting our faltering economy, the next domestic crisis looming over the Obama administration is what to do about our public schools. The enormity of this task is fully evidenced by the fact that Obama has already made his selection for virtually every other cabinet position of note, but just announced his choice for education secretary. The stakes were high as this choice quietly, but pointedly, was simmering into what was (fairly or not) being characterized as an ideological “war.”
In one corner, we purportedly had the teachers and teachers unions. As Libby Quaid from the Associated Press reported (“Obama’s education pick sparks conflict”), teachers wanted someone who would be a strong advocate for their concerns; such as Obama advisor Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor, or Inez Tenenbaum, the former state schools chief in South Carolina.
In the other corner we had the so-called “reformers.” As Quaid wrote, “Reform advocates want someone like New York schools chancellor Joel Klein, who wants teachers and schools held accountable for the performance of students.” Arne Duncan, the current CEO of Chicago Public Schools and an Obama confidant, was also a popular choice.
And now we know it is to be Duncan.
Duncan is certainly a thoughtful and pragmatic choice and this selection is receiving generally positive reviews. But there are still concerns, particularly among teachers and teacher unions. At the root of the problem is the proverbial 800-pound elephant in the room when talking about education reform and policy. It can be summed up in one word—
Accountability.
Accountability is, of course, a good thing. In the value-driven private sector, accountability and employability generally go hand-in-hand. You are deemed responsible for the product you create. So when we have an educational system where 1 child drops out of high school every 26 seconds; where the graduation rate in our 50 largest urban centers hovers around 50% and where American students are falling behind students from other industrialized countries in virtually every statistical category, it certainly seems reasonable, at first glance, to hold our teachers and schools accountable for the performance of our students.
But I think we are missing something. Though it seems logical to point to our teachers and schools when confronted with student outcomes like these, if we peel back the layers a bit, something about this seems just a bit unfair. Yes, there are some bad teachers who certainly need to pursue a different line of work. Yes, there are some chronically underperforming schools that probably need to be closed. But the problems go deeper than that. Much deeper.
One analogy keeps coming to mind. Before joining the chorus of voices laying blame squarely at the feet our teachers or our schools, I can’t help but think about this—I find myself mentally juxtaposing our approach towards funding education to our approach towards funding and fighting a war.
When we go to war, we spare no expense because lives are on the line. (The war in Iraq, for example, will cost American taxpayers more than $3 Trillion dollars). We make sure that our fighting men and women have the latest and most advanced equipment, so we spend billions more on research and development. We do this because of the value that we place on human life—each and every human life. To send a solider to war without the tools necessary to save lives and to win the war would be more than an outrage; it would be a crime.
But our teachers are soldiers.
Shouldn’t our teachers be afforded the same right? They are soldiers as well; soldiers on the front line of the most important battle that we as a nation have or will ever fight. No, it is not a battle fought with bullets and guns. This is a battle for the hearts and minds of our children. This is a battle for the future of our nation.
And it is a battle we cannot lose.
But what are the tools that we give them? Worn and recycled textbooks? Overhead projectors? Schools, as noted by David Thornburg, “predominantly driven by the awesome power of a sheet of slate and a stick of chalk?” Classrooms where you might see a few computers scattered in the back of the room, largely unused, while the technology that is so ubiquitous in every other facet of our society is relegated, literally, to the back of the educational bus?
We give our teachers this and then we tell them to leave no child behind or we’ll hold them accountable, hold back their kids or close their schools.
Does that seem fair to you?
I would challenge any of the private sector pundits or talking heads on television to try to open a business, any business, using only the tools you find in most inner-city middle or high school classrooms. I suspect most would walk into the classroom, turn to me with a look of pure panic and say, “I don’t have the tools.”
Exactly.
So it seems to me that it doesn’t really matter who we appoint as education secretary unless we first ask ourselves this—Do our teachers and schools really have the tools they need in order to excite our students, to engage our students and to prepare our students to compete and succeed in the 21st century? If we don’t answer that question correctly, I don’t know if the appointment of Arne Duncan, or anyone else for that matter, will really make a difference.
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