kitchen table math, the sequel: petition

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

petition

Via Whitney Tilson's education reform blog, a Democrats for Education Reform petition.

On my infinite to-do list, get some things up on the subject of the split within the Democratic Party on education.

Actually, that link to Kaus along with this David Brooks column is probably sufficient. Given that Linda Darling-Hammond is apparently overseeing his education transition team, it's not looking good for the DFER faction.

Joe Williams has said that when civil rights groups split off from teachers' unions the Democratic Party would be free to support charter schools.

That split appears to have happened, or to be in the process of happening.

And yet we've got Darling-Hammond.
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1 comment:

SteveH said...

I'm sorry, but that is one wimpy petition.

This is what I sent to the the Obama education link (requesting input) Barry gave in the previous post.

- - - - -

Choice. Choice. Choice.

Unfettered choice. Not just a choice between existing public schools.

No more moratoriums or public school approvals for new charter schools. They have a conflict of interest. Public schools don't want to see good students leave for better individual educational opportunities. Schools want them to stay and improve their statistics. They want to control what and how kids learn. That control must be broken. That is real change. We need more choices and parents need to be in charge of the choice. Parents don't need policy or education wonks telling them about "best practices".

We need more KIPP and Green Dot school choices. We need more choices that set much higher expectations. We need schools that ensure that learning gets done. Parents need to be the ones who make those choices, not policy experts determined to improve statistics.

Education is not a tool to eliminate poverty. Education should be a path that allows kids to fly, not just get out of poverty. Educators should not hold all kids hostage to achieve small, relative changes in test scores. You need to eliminate the academic gap on an individual basis, not a statistical basis. Give parents the choices to do that right now, not offer improvement sometime in the future. Give parents the choices and educational opportunities and they will get the job done. That is real change.

You need to continue NCLB because it provides a minimal level of accountability, but it is not the solution. Otherwise you only have a government-approved, slow, statistical improvement towards a minimal goal. The minimum becomes the maximum. But those who want to eliminate NCLB are no friends of parents. They are the ones who are against choice and against accountability. They are against real change.

A rising tide may float all boats, but that doesn't help if you are an airplane, and there are a lot of sinking urban airplanes. Help kids fly, not just get out of poverty. Individual kids are important now, not statistics sometime in the future. Individual academic gaps are important, not a statistical one. Individual educational opportunity is important, not the politics of poverty.

In addition to America Serves, you should have America Educates. Give parents and the community the tools to get the job done. If a group or community wants to start or bring in a KIPP-style school, it should not have to fight the educational establishment. Rather than remediate problems with a "Classroom Corps", give parents the power to fix the underlying problems. Give individuals the power to make real changes, not just as volunteer helpers for someone else's agenda.

We need Americans Take Charge, not Americans Help Out. Give US the power.

That is real change.

November 19, 2008 at 6:58 PM

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