There’s more buzz about public education – with a large subtext about the politics of public education – then there has been in decades. All in all, while creating some uncomfortable discussions, this is probably a good thing.
The big piece parts of the debate cluster around a few hot topic items: test scores, teachers unions, and choice. There’s more to it than that, but these are the big ones.
So this appears to be the prevailing logic: Our test scores are getting worse, therefore our schools are getting worse. Teachers embody our schools, therefore we must have a lot of terrible teachers. Unions protect terrible teachers, therefore we need to get rid of unions. The fastest pathway to non-unionized schools is wider growth of charter schools. Ergo, charter schools are the answer to our problems.
Wasn’t that simple?
If it feels that simple, be skeptical.
What about this logic: The country’s economic gap has grown to a historical levels. The well-document Achievement Gap tells us that test scores for students at the lowest socio-economic levels are consistently lower than those from higher socio-economic status (often over-simplified to race). Poverty levels among suburban communities (not just urban centers) have grown substantially during the Great Recession. As poverty and the economic gap have expanded, standardized test scores have been adversely affected. Ergo, addressing the poverty and economic issues are the answer to our problems.
Is that too simple?
Maybe. But hopefully it’s at least instigating some critical thinking. And where both logical (or illogical) paths begin is the assumption that we have a problem and that problem is known to exist because of standardized test scores.
This must be the first question. How much stock will we put into standardized test scores when results on them are known to scale with economic status?
One of the first questions needs to be this: Are inadequate schools the root cause of our economic problems or are our economic problems the root cause of inadequate schools?
As I like to say, the answer is probably in the middle. Public schools have never been a panacea. I believe public schools are a mirror image of their surrounding communities – a symbiotic relationship between the two. Strong communities will have strong schools. Schools do not exist in a vacuum. They are not science labs.
Ultimately the solutions we seek will address multiple institutions, not solely the institution of public schools.