America's great leap forward in public education

Kidding, of course. Here's a great piece to provide a little perspective on the many areas in which we continue to fail our students, and thus, ourselves:
http://bigthink.com/ideas/41284


And here's the list of things successful schools do (not in America, of course) from a book called Surpassing Shanghai, which is featured in that piece:
1. Funding schools equitably, with additional resources for those serving needy students
2. Paying teachers competitively and comparably
3. Investing in high-quality preparation, mentoring and professional development for teachers and leaders, completely at government expense
4. Providing time in the school schedule for collaborative planning and ongoing professional learning to continually improve instruction
5. Organizing a curriculum around problem-solving and critical thinking skill
6. Testing students rarely but carefully -- with measures that require analysis, communication, and defense of ideas

Needless to say, these are all things teachers (and their unions, occasionally) and most folks who have actually studied education have been saying all along. But in America, we don't look to experts for input on how to reform schools. We turn to businessmen and politicians because business can always be trusted to solve all our problems. If only we can get those pesky regulations off their backs and cut their taxes!

By the way, how's that giant for-profit charter school corporation, White Hat, doing in Ohio these days? (you know, that gang who just knew they could make profitable, successful, easy work out of what those dumb, lazy, public school teachers were doing) Oh, wait, perhaps these headlines will remind us:
http://education.ohio.com/2011/04/akrons-white-hat-gets-poor-grades-for-students/
http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/05/02/gop-budget-rewards-white-hat-for-failing-ohios-children/
http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/white-hat-employees-told-company-must-boost-enrollment-profits-1.248313
http://www.ohio.com/news/10-charter-schools-sue-white-hat-over-assets-1.182842
(ha, I could do this all night!)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2011/12/02/memo-white-hat-charter-school-management-company-hasnt-met-financial-forecasts-for-the-last-five-years/
But hey, we're capitalists. For profit rules! Competition is the answer! Treat everything like a business. Adam Smith was an idiot, right?

Luth
Out