Getting The Schools We Want

Yesterday's post, which was intended as a celebration of progressive, play-based education, irritated a couple of people, not because they disagreed with the premise, but because they saw it as a kind of ivory tower elitism unattainable to many people sending their children off to public schools.

Someone objects in some way to just about everything I write, of course, and as my audience has grown I've come to expect it, even girding myself some days in anticipation. Usually I let those comments stand without response, figuring I've had my say, now it's their turn. Sometimes I push back. This time, however, I was caught completely off guard and, frankly, feel awful.

Perhaps I get carried away in my zeal to defend our kind of curriculum, holding it up as a counterpoint to the drill-and-kill approach of the corporate education reformers, forgetting that our public schools have not yet been entirely taken over and, in fact, contrary to the hype, are actually offering high quality education, if not right across the board, at least in most places. And it's true that most of what I know about public schools comes from what I read and what a certain group of self-selected parents and teachers tell me.

What these teachers tell me is that they are increasingly being compelled to teach in ways that they know are not in the best interests of the children, but that most of the time, most days, most of them say they do their best to correct for that, even subversively if need be. What these parents tell me is that they are increasingly seeing children being compelled to "learn" in ways that they know are not in their best interests, but that most of the time, most days, most of them say their kids are getting a good education, and more importantly, that they are happy.

One of the advantages, perhaps, of being in an ivory tower is the view, and from where I sit I see what are flawed, but objectively solid public schools. There have always been parents and teachers advocating for improvement and that is, indeed, how public schools in a democracy should function, evolving to suit the needs of the communities they serve. What is new, is this well-financed national push by outside interests to demonize public schools and teachers, using extreme examples of failure as anecdotal "evidence" that the whole thing is in shambles (e.g., Waiting For Superman, the recently published Class Warfare). Since the real evidence contradicts their assertions, they are now busy working through faux research outfits like the National Council for Teacher Quality to compile "data" to support their pre-determined "solutions" of high stakes testing, privatization, vocational training, longer school days, larger classes, and the de-professionalization of the teaching profession. They are in the ears of politicians from both political parties and are driving this agenda forward, despite overwhelming evidence that it will make our schools worse, and without input from parents and teachers who I know to have very different ideas about how schools can be improved.

I know that I'm not the only one concerned about how this "reform" campaign has and will continue to negatively impact our public schools. In fact (and I have no evidence of this other than my view from the ivory tower) it seems to me that the good news is that the splash it has made, has created a wave of concerned parents who are seeking to take a more active role in their local public schools; a role of advocacy and support. 

As I stewed over the fair criticism of yesterday's post, I checked in with Melissa over at Imagination Soup to find that she is in the midst of a rather amazing series on her own adventures and research into parent advocacy and activism on behalf of her children in public schools. This is not a view from the ivory tower, but from a woman getting right down in the middle of it. Here are the links so far in order: The Case Against Drill-And-Kill Curriculum (Readicide), I Support My School -- My Way, With Advocacy, Parents Have Power Says Education Advocate. She promises more. I can't wait.

I hope (I expect, actually) that we are entering an era of parent and teacher activism on behalf of our children. This is the only way to fight back against the self-appointed reformers and instead get the schools we want.

I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you!