Not Politics As Usual When It Comes To Public Education
One intriguing observation about the current political season is that the opposing sides seem to truly understand the gravity of the challenges in our local schools and appear to be willing to step outside of their traditional boxes as they respond to the reality that so many of our schools are failing. Whether this translates into true reform in public schools remains to be seen. What's striking is that the conversations are more pragmatic and relevant to the nature of the problems confronting students and teachers. Ideas and themes that used to be the domain of one or the other political party are no longer defined as such. Charter schools, teacher merit pay, accountability, and parental involvement are key components of reform for both sides. Indeed, there was a time not long ago wherein liberals were staunchly against charter schools -- that opposition seems to have disappeared, probably due to the success of these innovative experiments across the country. At the same time, conservatives have begun to understand that vouchers alone cannot succeed unless you provide additional academic support as students transition from low performing schools to more promising school settings. It took a very long time to get beyond partisan bickering about how we could accomplish real school reform and I guess we can thank parents and local communities for forcing real change.
What has not changed is that although liberals remain in lock step with teacher unions and the education elites, their talking points indicate a willingness to experiment with more innovative and creative solutions. Conservatives have not abandoned their insistence on school choice and competition for parents and students. My sense is that while the opposing sides display a greater recognition of local school challenges on the ground, their need to appeal to traditional and entrenched stakeholder interests carries the potential for derailing their best efforts for real public school reform. Politics has a way of drowning out voices of reason and vision. To produce measurable academic improvements, parents and communities may very well have to push even harder, because history tells us that politicians do not respond unless their constituents exert pressure on them. Grassroots discontent and activism may be the only solution to translating the usual political intransigence into quantifiable enhancements in student achievement and school performance. Nevertheless, thank God for baby steps toward a public debate not as tainted by the usual partisan rhetoric.
What has not changed is that although liberals remain in lock step with teacher unions and the education elites, their talking points indicate a willingness to experiment with more innovative and creative solutions. Conservatives have not abandoned their insistence on school choice and competition for parents and students. My sense is that while the opposing sides display a greater recognition of local school challenges on the ground, their need to appeal to traditional and entrenched stakeholder interests carries the potential for derailing their best efforts for real public school reform. Politics has a way of drowning out voices of reason and vision. To produce measurable academic improvements, parents and communities may very well have to push even harder, because history tells us that politicians do not respond unless their constituents exert pressure on them. Grassroots discontent and activism may be the only solution to translating the usual political intransigence into quantifiable enhancements in student achievement and school performance. Nevertheless, thank God for baby steps toward a public debate not as tainted by the usual partisan rhetoric.
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