The rush to “reform” education did not begin in Michigan or Wisconsin, and involves some clarification in the use of the term. On one hand, reformers concerned with how we teach and what we teach point to America’s declining scores in comparison with other countries as evidence of the need for change. On the other, politicians and policy wonks look at the rising cost of government and make the claim that education spending is out of control and needs to be reined in. Depending on your audience, “reforming” education can mean different things. Most reasonable people would agree that the way we teach today, wedded as it is to a structure that is at least 70-80 years old, is not meeting the needs of today’s world. Unfortunately, political opportunists have co-opted that argument and created an environment of confusion where resistance to spending cuts leads to the demonization of those who question the logic of the budget cutters.
The Rubicon has been crossed for many of the “reforms” initiated in Michigan, but that does not mean we give up the fight. Many of the changes reformers have embraced, in fact, cannot be supported with data that prove their worth. Many will not improve public education but harm it: merit pay, unreliable and invalid testing methods, and charter schools are three examples. We must resist these harmful reforms, and do so from a position of strength. As educators, we must educate ourselves, and become expert witnesses and advocates for change that works.
The links that follow will help you do just that. The first is a must read, if we are to understand the mind-set and reasoning of the reformers. It is a link to the Summary Report of The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, published in 2007: (http://www.tawb.org/Documents/ToughChoices_EXECSUM.pdf).
The second relates to a study done by Vanderbilt University in which researchers found no subsequent rise in test scores following the implementation of a merit pay system in the Nashville public school system: (http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2010/09/teacher-performance-pay/).
And the third is a link to the global fight to defend public education in the Americas: (http://www.idea-network.ca/ideas/english/home.cfm).
Read these documents. Check out the links. Educate yourself. Question the decision makers. Defend our profession, please. It is an honorable one worth defending.
