A Vote for Public Schools

When Conor began kindergarten I posted this.  Quite frankly, I was wishing we had more cash to be able to send him to a private school where I thought there may be less conformity and he could be himself.  This year I have continued to feel some cynicism towards public education.  But, thankfully Conor's first grade year has been much better for both of us.  I feel like I am a valuable contributor to his education, and his teacher has acknowledged that.  There is still some tension between being an educator and being a parent. And I still wonder if I can teach again and if I would be effective.

Recently I received this link to Diane Ravitch's speech at the National Convention on Education (2011).  Ravitch's ideas were so educationally sound and logically convincing that I had to read her book.



It's called, The Death and Life of the Great American School System - How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.  It is quite comprehensive and includes a wealth of information.  I think everyone ought to read (at least) the last chapter of her book, "Lessons Learned."

These points in the book were the most poignant to me:

1.  I respect the simple fact that Ravitch has educational experience behind her words.  So many well-meaning people, who have no idea how a public school functions, like to give educational mandates.  Ravitch served under both the H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations (as assistant secretary in charge of the Office of Educational Research and Innovation), and is an educational historian.  She was a proponent of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) until she realized that it wasn't working.  There were many indicators to show that this policy has not actually helped children, yet Ravitch seems to be the only scholar willing to honestly and publicly acknowledge it.

2.  Changing schools to be competitive in nature, rather than cooperative undermines important principles of education.  I would have sunk as a new teacher had I not worked with a cooperative team of teachers.  Ravitch says, 

Business leaders like the idea of turning the schools into a marketplace where the consumer is king.  But the problem with the marketplace is that it dissolves communities and replaces them with consumers.  Going to school is not the same as going shopping.  Parents should not be burdened with locating a suitable school for their child.  They should be able to take their child to the neighborhood public school as a matter of course and expect that it has well-educated teachers and a sound educational program (pg. 221).

and

The new corporate reformers betray their weak comprehension of education by drawing false analogies between education and business.  They think they can fix education by applying the principles of business, organization, management, law, and marketing and by developing a good data-collection system that provides the information necessary to incentivize the workforce -- principals, teachers, and students -- with appropriate rewards and sanctions (pg. 11).

3.  I have always recognized the limit that testing has in defining success.  After all, I have never been a great test taker.  When pressure is high, my stress level is also high.  [In high school  I didn't pass the AP History nor the AP English exam.  I was devastated.  My ACT score was mediocre, but I had a high GPA.  Due to high stress during high stakes exams, I admit that I've played "dot to dot games" with certain multiple choice sections of these tests.  When I applied to graduate school, Boston University asked me to re-take the GRE to improve my verbal score.  Tufts, on the other hand, was satisfied with the score I got, coupled with my undergraduate GPA, my letters of recommendation, and my personal essays.  I went to Tufts.]  Ravitch says,

Tests are necessary and helpful.  But tests must be supplemented by human judgment.  When we define what matters in education only by what we can measure, we are in serious trouble.  When that happens, we tend to forget that schools are responsible for shaping character, developing sound minds in healthy bodies, and forming citizens for our democracy, not just for teaching basic skills.  We even forget to reflect on what we mean when we speak of a good education.  Surely we have more in mind than just bare literacy and numeracy.  And when we use the results of tests, with all their limitations, as a routine means to fire educators, hand out bonuses, and close schools, then we distort the purpose of schooling altogether (pg. 166-167). 

4.  Last, my passion as an educator was re-ignited as I read Ravitch's chapter about her English Teacher, Mrs. Ratliff.  I have also had teachers who influenced me significantly and taught me to question and think.  Mr. Bailey was my Current Issues teacher when I was a senior in high school.  During one of our first classes of the year he passed out maps of the world and asked us to identify as many countries as we could.  Embarrassingly, most of us could not name very many.  22 years later, I saved my hand-written notes from Mr. Bailey's class.  His taught us about the Vietnam War, about Watergate, and how to think and defend our position.  I still remember learning how many young soldiers and Americans were disillusioned by the Vietnam War.  This learning impacted me. All of our tests in Mr. Bailey's class were short essay questions -- never multiple choice.  Mid-year we had a test in Current Issues, during which a student was caught cheating.  Mr. Bailey came into the room and told us how he felt about cheating.  He was angry, disappointed, and he walked out on us that day.  I will never forget how that felt.  In spite of the fact that Mr. Baily was probably the best academic teacher I have ever had, he was even more concerned about our character and that we were honest human beings. 

After listening to Diane Ravitch speak and reading her book, I have changed my mind about wanting to send Conor or Megan to any other school than our neighborhood school.  I want to invest in my community and support public schools.  Ravitch suggests that neighborhood schools foster democratic principles where parents can share concerns and experience a sense of community.  I'm all for that.