School reform has become ritualized, sanitized, commercialized and increasingly isolated from reality. As the great Titanic of public education slips ever more rapidly beneath the ocean surface of economic and social reality, our education captains and crew desperately throw out life savers of standardization, technology, charter schools and testing to our students -- who are drowning of boredom and irrelevance. Our students don't have time to wait for "Superman" and, by the way, he isn't coming. We will have to fix public education ourselves.
Relentlessly, the great vessel of public education fills with the water of good intentions and muddled thinking, slipping slowly beneath the horizon of hope--mortally wounded by three icebergs of inescapable social fact:
According to a 2009 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) report on the condition of children and education in 30 industrialized countries, the United States "ranks fifth worst in the rate of children who lack more than 4 of the following 8 educational possessions: A desk to study, a quiet place to work, a computer for homework, educational software, an internet connection, a calculator, a dictionary and school textbooks." The United States does rank number one on some measures, however, including child poverty.
When Nelson Mandela said "there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way it treats its children" he held up a light to our national secret -- we treat poor children as disposable.
The national response to our educational catastrophe has not been elevating or effective. We seem to have four preferred options: the ostrich option of denial, the blaming the victim option, the doubling down on mistakes option, and the utopian option -- charter schools will transport us to an educational paradise. It is little wonder we continue to reform over and over again; these options are all destined to fail. The effects of poverty, frozen mobility and concentrated wealth will not be undone by placing band-aids over our educational wounds.
But we can do something: We know the qualities of excellent schools -- they have clear missions, demand excellence from students, are lead by organizationally and intellectually gifted leaders, keep close track of student progress, increase opportunities to learn, demand respect and safety, and establish good working relations with parents and community.
Even if we had a system of excellent public schools, however, the icebergs of inequality would still hold us in their cold grasp -- better reading scores do not guarantee social and economic justice.
If we are to move from a society of opportunity hoarding to opportunity sharing, from conflict to consensus, we need young people capable of critical reflection, empirical reasoning, shared problem solving and complex adaptive thinking. To become a nation of learners, we need 21st world-class schools that are innovative, transformative and genuinely democratic. World class schools will not immediately mend our torn social fabric. What can happen is that our students will become sophisticated enough to ask the political and policy questions which address the iceberg issues with thoughtfulness, toughness and reason.
Can we rise above our differences and create a system of public schools worthy of our founding ideals? In his 1810 State of the Union Address James Madison called for a national vision for public education as the best way to expand patriotism, reduce sources of jealousy and prejudice and promote greater social harmony. Above all, a national vision for public education would "strengthen the foundations that adorn the structure of our free and happy system of government."
Madison was right in 1810 and he is right today.
Peter W. Cookson, Jr. is the Founder of Ideas without Borders a Washington DC based educational consulting firm focused on human rights and 21st century learning.
Douglas Rushkoff: Why Johnny Can't Program: A New Medium Requires A New Literacy
The answer is as laughably simple as it is obvious. Thirty years ago in November, the American people got the twisted notion in their heads that sending a feeble-minded reactionary named Ronald Reagan to the White House would be a really neat idea. The so-called "Reagan Revolution" that followed cut taxes for a class of people who already had more money than they knew what to do with while ignoring the infrastructure at the same time. This societal malpractice has been going on now for three decades.
Is anyone seriously surprised that things have turned out the way they have? If you are you haven't been paying attention.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen NY
The problems are systemic, and so will the answers be.
And, by the way, trying to implement a great program on the cheap is a guarantee of failure.
As a senior in high school I had a choice for a full-ride scholarship to play football at a so-so university or pay my own way to one of the top research colleges in the country. I knew that education would pay off so I laid down my helmet and cleats and picked up a calculator and have never looked back.
The problem is the 99% of poor people could care less about education. The parents in poor areas do not value education. THIS IS THE #1 PROBLEM!
I am curious what field you made your money in- please don't tell me finance/hedge fund. There is a real generational shift that took place about 20 years ago whereby education does not translate into wealth - especially when there are no jobs and debt created by student loans.
Ireland has a 99% literacy rate.What is wrong with America.We can do this.Yes we can.
Thank goodness education is at the forefront and should remain a priority: inclusion results in innovation, progress. Exclusion or "opportunity hording" is harmful.
We are all in this together for our children, others children for all - keep the dialogue flowing, ideas shared and thank goodness we care.
I recently watched FOOD Inc. and was disgusted by the food giants. Once I move out of Stepford, whereever I land with my family we are going to plant our own veggies and live small.
Start small, live small and share what you have. Take care and bless you.
Before 1979, how did we educate kids?
I disagree with this notion. What we need our kids to do is to hang up the phone, turn off the TV, do your math and science homework..then go outside and play ball. Oh.....and eat you veggies.