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Are Obama and Duncan attacking teachers and local control?
Investing billions in tracking test scores assumes that school-district record keeping, and not student buy in, is the source of student failure in low-income communities.
by Jesse Alred
Since Franklin Roosevelt's 1933 victory, working familes have been the heart of the Democratic Party. Except for African-Americans, Obama did not win the party's heart in his primary contest with Hillary Clinton. He won with the support of affluent social liberals, well-educated youthful volunteers and superior financial support from the corporate sector.
The public schools' policies of President Obama and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan so far suggest this middle-class feeling that in spite of all his gifts Mr. Obama may lack the common touch or grounding in everyday reality may be right.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's agenda seems designed to alienate middle-class teachers and parents who depend on public schools. His school reform proposals lack a well-grounded sense of why schools fail. His agenda includes the following:
* abolishing elected school boards in more cities and replacing them with superintendents and boards chosen by mayors.
* increasing the number of charter schools to compete with existing neighborhood public and magnet schools.
* linking teacher pay and job security with student test scores regardless of the kids' socioeconomic background or behavior.
* creating a national technology system of tracking student test scores from year to year.
* employing federal grants to pressure school district to adopt the policies he thinks will improve schools.
The centralization that accompanies mayoral control reduces the influence that average families can have on school policies in their districts, and so does federal mandates.
Tying teacher pay to student performance assumes teachers, and not student behavior or family commitment, are the source of classroom success or failure. The fact that affluent kids usually succeed in school and low-income students typically do worse provides common sense proof that background trumps teacher quality.
Investing billions in tracking test scores assumes that school-district record keeping, and not student buy in, is the source of student failure in low-income communities.
The promotion of charter schools can undermine efforts to improve neighborhood schools, especially when charters like KIPP and Yes Prep draw top talent out of the neighborhoods.
Secretary Duncan's approach has drawn opposition from rank and file educators, and support from groups thal lay the blame for school failure at the feet of teachers. Michelle Rhee, praised by President Obama, has said "we need a different breed of teachers."
Secretary Duncan received spontaneous booes and hisses when he spoke recently to the National Education Association, which contributed substantially to the Obama victory.
— Jesse Alred
Examiner.com
2009-07-18
http://www.examiner.com/x-16144-Houston-Education-Reform-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Are-Obama-and-Duncan-attacking-teachers-and-local-control
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