Labor Issues, Accountability at the Root of Education Reform

In a recent article from Time, it was noted the education reform continues to be a political arena filled with different theories on what can truly create positive change in education. There are obviously some that want to make No Child Left Behind work, or at least make it work in a retooled way. Others want to completely remove the Department of Education, and leave education oversight to the states. As an educator and a parent, it is hard to know what is “best,” considering the players that are involved.

What are we trying to accomplish?

I tell my students all the time that, “In the end, math wins.” In other words, ultimately we get to some sort of quantitative measure in this country. I know people will talk about the need for a “quality” education, but that word doesn’t really mean anything because it is so subjective. In addition, I know the value of qualitative measurements, and that learning, intelligence and ability does not always fit into a nice Likert scale. However, it does seem like we are struggling with defining our overall goal. Until that is agreed upon, we may continue to ride this merry-go-round.

Labor issues

It is probably unpopular to bring labor issues into this, but in education they cannot be ignored. America has been subsidizing public education for decades, and we are now paying the price with large, expensive campuses, top-heavy school boards and entrenched unions. Unions have done wonderful things for the rights of workers in this country, but it may be time to rethink the role of teacher unions in the face of economic difficulty.

Alternatives

There is one thing that I have never really understood. Is there real accountability with education? The word “accountability” is thrown around in a lot of vocational arenas, but ultimately that word is meaningless unless there is actual reward and punishment. For example, if a school does not meet the standards of NCLB, what happens? Does the government replace all the teachers with better educators that they keep in a warehouse somewhere? Do the 3,000 kids in a failing high school get sent to the high school in the next city over that already has 3,000 kids jammed into a campus that was built for 1,500? Whatever politicians and educators come up with, they have to decide if they are actually going to follow through on expectations. Professionals in any industry are just like kids who test their parents. Kids (and professionals) figure out very quickly whether or not the verbalized expectations are actually going to be enforced.

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