March 16, 2011 10:00 AM UTC
Wolves Want to Eat Your Children: Education Reform Made Simple
50 Comments- by: nancycronk
A friend of mine sent an email to me that said, “I don’t understand all of this education reform stuff. I don’t know the difference between vouchers and charter schools and magnet schools and education reform, and the other options. Can you give me the ‘idiot’s guide’ to understanding this stuff before my daughter starts school next fall?” This is my response to my friend:
Dear _____,
You and I have been friends a long time. I know I can be completely honest with you. This is how I see things as a parent whose kids are much older than yours. Take my opinion with a grain of salt and ask others in addition to me.
First you must understand that wolves want to eat your children. Not the furry kind of wolves — the human kind that are much more devious and dangerous.
There are three camps of “education experts” — two of whom are really wolves in sheep’s clothing: Corporate Wolves, Religious Wolves, and the Shepherds of Public Education. The Wolves love to call themselves “Education Reformers”.
Corporate wolves are usually Republicans and centrist Democrats (Democrats In Name Only, or DINOs) who worship business as a god. They want every student to grow up to be a slave to corporate America. Some corporate wolves know nothing about education but somehow seem to always have the podium because they are wealthy and their friends give big fat checks to political candidates. (A certain University President comes to mind.) Corporate wolves want you to forget well-rounded educations, learning to think critically, developing one’s potential, and encouraging meaningful dialogue. All education, to the corporate wolf, is to make bean-counters and worker bees. Drones. Zombies. Non-unionized cubicle inhabitants.
Corporate wolves can’t wait to get into the public school system using things called “public-private partnerships“. That is a fancy way to say, “We’re going to put unhealthy, high-profit margin, sugary foods in your kids vending machines in exchange for some cash dangled in front of your Principal’s face”.
Corporate wolves see art, science, physical education, and other subjects that honor the holistic development of each child as their enemy. Kids who think critically might question their superiors or their employers. “We can’t have that”, they say. Corporate wolves hate teacher’s unions. Corporate wolves love to say things like, “Any idiot can teach” and to show it, they pass laws allowing business people who have never had a single course in Teaching Methods or Educational Psychology to teach your kids.
Then their are Religious Wolves. These people want to brainwash your children to believe dinosaurs never existed, being gay is a “choice”, the founding fathers were all religious fundamentalists, and white people were the first and only “true” Americans. Religious wolves love vouchers.
Vouchers are money certificates public school districts collect (your taxes) and then turn over to the religious wolves so they can indoctrinate your kids in their religious dogma. Vouchers do not require the private schools that use them to hire teachers who are licensed, unionized, or even trained (state and federal standards for teachers only apply to the public schools) Case in point, I had a Mom-friend once who believed people can get AIDS by kissing someone with the virus. She also believed there is no such thing as climate change. This person is now a teacher in a private school in Arizona. (Where is the ACLU, you ask, crying foul because private school vouchers are a clear violation of the constitution’s “church and state” boundaries? Great question! I don’t know.)
One important thing to know about both of the wolf species above is, they know they are more likely to capture your children if they can get legislators to slash funding for education. When schools are weak, they cannot fight back. They also figured out that when they merge their packs together and make a super-pack, they are much more successful in their hunt.
Then you have the “Shepherds of Public Education” who are the vast majority of parents, teachers, and level-headed citizens. We are the ones who say, “We do not want our children eaten by either corporate wolves or religious wolves. We believe in growing human beings, not bean counters, worker drones, or religious zealots. We want our kids to learn to think for themselves, to ask questions, to listen critically, and to create, not just consume. We want our kids to be well-rounded, to stretch their imaginations, to make healthy choices for themselves, and to be tolerant of people from every culture and every tradition. We want them to learn all theories of creation, for example — the popular beliefs as well as those based on scientific evidence. We believe children should come to their own conclusions (a very dangerous idea to wolves, apparently!)”
The Shepherds are often blamed when it’s raining (times of financial stress), the sheep are sick from disease (poverty, poor nutrition, families with substance abuse, etc.), and for attacks from other wild animals on the herd (gang violence, parents who are not home, etc.). Recently, the greatest threat to the sheep are the Foxes (Fox News Network).
I think newly-registered Democrat Muhammad Ali Hasan hit the nail on the head when he descibed the pedagogy espoused by the Shepherds when he wrote in his blog post, “Why I Am Leaving The GOP“:
Since our inception and the creation of small, red-bricked schoolhouses, our practices of pedagogy have seen little change. Pedagogy is the way, in which our teachers instruct their students, and sadly, today’s pedagogy is based on an IQ score, a shallow evaluation that can somewhat test one’s linguistic and logical skill, but too often misrepresents true intelligence. Instead, we need a public school system that is driven by new pedagogy – a system based on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, Spencer Kagan’s Cooperative Learning, and John Dewey’s Project Based Learning. Training our teachers to practice these methods of pedagogy, when writing their curriculum and lesson plans, as well as rewriting our evaluations to test based on such theory, will advance our public schools to the next level.
Magnet schools are schools that are set up to attract kids interested in a subject area or discipline. An “arts” school or a “tech” school is an example of a magnet school. Magnet schools are given their name because they offer something special — they “attract” students to neighborhood schools that might otherwise be declining in enrollment. Magnet schools can be part of the public school system or a private school network. My youngest son went to an arts magnet school based on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory in the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) that was excellent. I wish it was around for all of my kids! (Tragically, I heard CCSD’s Walnut Hills Elementary has reverted back to a regular school. I have no idea why.)
Charter schools are a huge controversy right now, especially in Denver. Charter schools, by definition, are schools that have a charter, drawn between the people who pay for the school and the people who run the school. Charter schools are often created when a local, neighborhood school is not doing well. A public school district may say, “Parents, we’ve tried everything. We are turning this school over to you.” Cherry Creek Academy (CCA) is an example of a charter school. The district allowed the parents to create the rules, choose the curriculum, hire the teachers, etc. Although the back-to-basics philosophy (“sit down, shut up, read your textbook at your desk and dress like everyone else”) does not mesh with research on Best Practices (education practices based on empirical research of successful outcomes rather than partisan politics), many parents seem to love CCA.
Some charters are not drawn with the local neighborhood parents, but with Corporate Wolves. Those are the charter schools that organizations like Defense Denver, see red over. Basically, the school district says, “We give up” and the Corporate Wolves are allowed to sweep in and take over. Sadly, many people in Defense Denver forget there are other types of charter schools (not just corporate ones), so when they rail against them, people with other experiences (like CCA parents) cannot understand their fury.
When Corporate Wolves run charter schools, they don’t tend to know what to do with kids who have special needs, kids for whom English is not their first language, and kids living in poverty. The corporate dog-eat-dog mentality tends to victimize and punish these kids, rather than help them.
Perhaps the biggest objection to charter schools is the possibility that those who agree to run the schools according to the charter, may choose not to hire unionized teachers. Personally, I am sympathetic to that argument. Unions made the middle class. Unions not only protect workers, but they encourage professionalism. Unions work in partnership with public schools and communities to improve education by making teachers feel safe and secure in their jobs, and by providing their members with opportunities for continuing education that is relevant, research-based, and realistic.
Colorado is still looking for a Rancher brave and wise enough to chase away the wolves, to give the Shepherds respect and autonomy, and to provide the needed resources for them to do their work as they were trained.
I hope I’ve answered your questions in a rudimentary way, ______. I encourage you to ask other parents what they think. No matter what you decide for your daughter, stay involved in her school. The more eyes on the flock, the better. Many successful charter schools and private schools are successful because the parents who send their kids there are involved parents who volunteer often. If you do that, any of the schools described above might be the right choice for your daughter!
Fondly,
Your opinionated friend and an experienced mother, Nancy
Are you after my position as chairwoman of the MAH fan club? 😉
No, really, he’s absolutely right, and so are you. Even the kids who are “traditionally gifted” don’t benefit from current educational standards. You met Mini Cowgirl. You know how bright she is. I have to work very hard to explain to her that just because she can coast through school doesn’t mean she should, because eventually, even if not until grad school, she WILL need to study HARD, and everyone else around her will be just as smart as she is–and the ones who learned good study habits early will get ahead.
The focus on one intelligence instead of many leaves most children behind, and the few who excel wind up poorly prepared for post-secondary education, much less their careers.
before I shill for him as a candidate, or start a fan club. I like him though, but TABOR has to go!
I have a three part plan.
1. Get Ali to move back here and get him elected to the office of his choice–this could, admittedly, be difficult, but I am prepared to wear out a few good pairs of boots canvassing if need be.
2. Spend every spare moment volunteering for JUST ENOUGH progressive Democrats who share my economic views to make sure he’s outvoted on everything remotely related to the budget.
3. Track down every Republican in Colorado who decided they just HAD to be a jerk about Ali’s race and faith. Do a victory jig on their doorstep. Then give them some homemade muffins, because I’m a nice girl and I wouldn’t dream of gloating without a peace offering to smooth things over.
It interested me that you used the same analogy (albeit a common one) as Dave Grossman uses in On Killing to describe the army (sheepdogs), civilians (the flock), and sociopaths (wolves). Funny how education has become such a ferocious debate that the same descriptors make perfect sense for education policy influencers and military combatants, not to mention aggressive sociopaths!
And one other other thing, too: Good to see a new take on Defense Denver. I have found their behavior and actions despicable, but they do from time to time say some laudable things. Two sides to every story and all.
About Defense Denver — lots of good people with legitimate concerns represented by a crazy mouthpiece or two on the blogs who make the rest of them look bad. That’s my take.
I think they are making a mistake making it about one person and a recall. I’m not into “character assassinations to get people who disagree with you out of your way”. Like you said above, “bring them muffins” and gloat while you do the victory lap when you win.
http://www.mwkworks.com/onshee…
That gives me chills. Dead on. I’m surprised I used “shepherd” rather than “sheepdog”. I LOVE border collies.
It reminds me of the moment I realized I couldn’t tell if a building I saw while driving, from a distance, was a school campus or a prison. (Got closer, the razor wire gave it away as a prison.)
Military, school, prison… the three are getting closer all the time thanks to the zero tolerance, zero individuality in schools.
(Sidenote: Military service is nothing short of a noble calling; likewise teaching. It’s appalling to me that in many cases both are denigrated by this same mentality, which also disadvantages students and feeds a steady stream of youth into the prison system.)
You guys are too sweet! I’m lucky to have people who love me this much 🙂
How does this diary line up with your unabashed support of Michael Bennet in the primary? Doesn’t he fall under at least one of your categories of wolves?
I repeatedly said he had my support largely for his work with us on health care reform. I also believed he was much more likely to win a state-wide election than his primary opponent, who I said I would love to see in just about any other race. He was clearly the only one who was up to the task of fundraising against a Republican with deep corporate ties.
I still haven’t seen concrete suggestions from Bennet on education — only posturing and generalities. If the specifics of a plan warrant, I would not hesitate to take him to task on it. I hope we all will. I don’t hold much stock in gossip — I’m waiting to hear it from his own mouth. If you have a link to specifics, I would love to read them.
that we just found common primary ground; hurray Bennet is out of DPS! May he continue, at the very least, not doing harm and not being Buck in the other place.
Seriously though, because of his background and nearly first appointment, he could have a serious say about… oh! That’s right, they went with No Child Left Behind again.
Anyway, eventually, he could have say in the standards and process.
I’d start here:
http://www.newyorker.com/repor…
And seek out Merida on a sane day, when she’s on, she’s a great information source. Thoughtful and ready to source. An insane day? Back away slowly.
The majority of the board and Bennet share the same ideals. That’s why he had the job. That’s why Boasberg has it now. That’s why the minority part of the board is so desperate to become the majority. If you support the basic idea of DeFENSE, you hope Bennet will stay out of education.
Just in case someone wants to argue with me, I only follow as an interested observer. I’m not a teacher, hell, I don’t even have a kid yet. My opinions are still forming; other than that this is important (that, I’m sure of).
The guy won his seat fair and square. He is entitled to his opinion. Heck, in my neck of the woods, we have to deal with Mike Coffman every day of the year. We pretty much never agree with him, but he is entitled to his own opinions. Same with our Republican State Senate and House members.
Although I believe 99% of the folks affiliated with Defense Denver (politically active teachers/union members) have legitimate beefs in general, I think their loudspeakers (I won’t say their names — I’ve already had enough trouble with them these past two years) can be CRAZY, as many Pols readers can attest. They don’t help the cause by making things so… personal. First they hated Bennet, then they hated anyone who didn’t hate Bennet, now they hate Easley. Enough with the hate!
There are legitimate issues here to be passionate about, but singling out individuals is not going to get anyone anywhere… JMHO. Want to hate something? Hate corporate greed. Hate teaching methods that rob kids of their rights or their childhoods. Hate the fact that Coloradans seriously underfund our schools. Hate the Governor’s new budget that makes it almost impossible for school districts to teacher our kids. Hate TABOR. But hate individuals… sorry, not going there.
Shouldn’t recalls be reserved for gross negligence or failure to perform one’s duty? I still haven’t read what this man has done that warrants a recall. Has he broken Board rules? Has he violated a code of ethics? Can the rest of the school board really throw stones? At least one of the other board members lives in a glass house herself, based on allegations of rule violations.
And, how can anyone concerned with the responsible stewardship of limited city and state money justify an expensive recall unless the board member did something so egregious they had to be recalled for public safety reasons (murder, arson, etc.)? Want someone gone? Wait out their term. JMHO.
You mean like the Wisconsin state senators? Or is that OK because we really really dislike how they voted on a bill or two?
You got me there, RedGreen. I totally want to see those guys recalled. Head bowed, tail between legs. 10,000 points to you.
and have said so since the WI stuff started. It is though a very legitimate right we have. The reason the Easley recall offends me on a deep level is because it’s based on a lie. Don’t put a lie on a ballot! They are training people to collect signatures on a fabrication. I’m not OK with that. But I didn’t mention that above. At all really.
Easley is the target for a very specific political reason. As the DeFENSE leadership sees it, these are means to a just end. Oddly, if they’d just billed it as what it is (we hate the backstabber*) I wouldn’t be vocal about it at all. I’m not in Easley’s district. What’s it to me?
*Easley ran as though he would support the minority part of the board and took the union support to win the seat. Then he flipped on at least one key vote. Not technically the reason the minority board chose him, but it adds motivation and is frankly the only reason this recall would ultimately be successful (which it won’t be).
Campaigning for him was an attempt to takeover the board. This is just the new strategy.
Fundamental to the concept of representative democracy is the notion that the representative is responsible to those who elected him. He is obliged to represent his constituents.
I know it is not easy for Americans to understand this concept these days, when even questioning our country’s policies is seen as unpatriotic. At the root of the argument for a recall is a very simple American concept, however: taxation without representation.
DPS has a budget larger than the city of Denver. The majority of Denver’s property taxes go to education. If Easley does not represent those who elected him, they have the opportunity to recall him from office.
As to the falseness of the recall’s reasoning, that Easley has a conflict of interest, think of it this way:
(1) Easley works for the Denver Scholarship Foundation making around $120,000 per year. The man whom he supervises in his role as DPS board president is on the Foundation’s board of directors, albeit as an ex-officio member. Nonetheless, Mr. Boasberg still carries a long stick, and Easley pushed a ridiculously positive assessment of Mr. Boasberg through the school board this year.
(2) Three members of the Foundation’s Board of Director’s gave Easley $16,000 for his “Decline to Sign” campaign.
(3) The northeast Denver Community perceives that Easley does not engage with community members, votes to close the community’s schools ignoring community input, and regularly misses meetings with the community.
What would you conclude if you lived in northeast Denver, especially far northeast Denver? It sure seems like something is affecting Easley’s voting record and behavior, and it probably isn’t a commitment to his constituents, at least if you live in far northeast Denver.
So you recall him, as is allowed by Colorado State Statute. A fair argument can be made for waiting until the next election, but that election is 24 months off. From a community’s perspective, a lot of damage can be done in that amount of time.
Last, by stating, “he won the election fair and square,” you show a clear lack of understanding of basic American political theory. I suggest you go revisit your high school civics class, assuming you had one in today’s education environment, and recall why we have fought so hard for a democracy over the past 235+ years: the right to choose our representatives and hold them accountable
With your brain. Sorry about that.
There’s no “think of it this way”, there’s very specific language on the petition. It doesn’t hold water.
Did you actually read my comment, or did you just think your long, pointless answer fit well enough?
Don’t bother, I know you didn’t. Your claim of my lack of knowledge is actually based on something someone else said. 🙁 And is incorrect. Recall election, or any other election, is always the gauge of opinions. My opinion is you voted for it, you’re stuck with it. Vote however you see fit.
Sorry again about your condition.
I got the parts where you accuse him of conflict of interest, bribery, and failure to perform the duties of his job. Where you lost me, Chris, is in your personal attack of me.
I don’t know Easley, and frankly, I might have been persuaded, but I rush to defend him (heck — anyone) when people out to get the guy (like you) ferociously start attacking everyone who does not agree with you already.
Did you know that Bennet’s mother is a teacher? She still teaches English as a second language.
Vouchers will be used, not only to subsidize religious education but mainly to subsidize the affluent, providing them with nice discounts to place their children in schools, most of which will still be far out of reach for middle income families.
How so? Well vouchers of $4,575 will be available to about 500 students with the cost of the available mix of mainly private religious and some private non-religious schools available ranging from “some” as low as $4,695 to as much as $21,000.
It is therefore likely that most of those 500 places will be of use only to those able to make up the difference between the voucher amount and the higher to many times higher cost of the available private schools. Supporters aren’t arguing that Douglas County schools are awful, just that this will provide choice. Besides representing public subsidies for private religious education, the “choice” will mainly benefit the most affluent, for many of whom the voucher will be just another nice fat discount coupon to go with their nice fat tax breaks.
As usual, not much here for the middle income family. Not even the false hope of trickle down, offered in arguments about why giving the rich all those tax breaks is going to pay off for everyone, never mind decades of evidence to the contrary.
to stay up half the night to write this diary. Arrrrggggghhhhh!
Maybe take a nap?
sends her kid to a very progressive, neighborhood-supported charter school. Her administrator wrote this, arguing that they are giving public school parents an improved option over the right-leaning public schools in their area. In other words, more proof that charter schools can be really great, or really terrible, depending on who is drawing the charter (corporate interests or neighborhood parents).
http://www.citizen-times.com/a…
Charter school
Publicly funded primary or secondary school (though like other schools, may also receive private donations)opened and attended by choice and not subject to some of the rules that apply to public schools. Because they are publicly funded, they are not allowed to charge tuition.
When enrollment application exceed space admission may be allocated by lottery or application date, depending on the school’s charter.
Charter schools may provide a curriculum emphasizing a specific subject matter (science and engineering) or specific approach to learning. They may be a “magnet” school or not.
Charter schools are founded by teachers, parents, and others convinced they can do better than traditional public schools.
Charters are typically granted by the school Board but State-authorized charters are possible. (I’d like to see the universities in Colorado charter some schools 7-12)
Like other public schools, charters are non-profit and though either may be managed by a for-profit corporation, that does not change the status of the school.
Vouchers are a way for public school disricts to pay all or part of the cost of a student attending a private school.
The data across the US provides a consensus: some charters do great work; some perform similar to the other schools in their district; and some charters suck.
Likewise, the data for private schools is similar.
but don’t you prefer the image of blood dripping down a wild animal’s fangs? 🙂
I think the Defense Denver people have been fed the notion that all charter schools are corporate-backed. I would be up-in-arms about that, too. The only one I know, in Cherry Creek, is run by parents (again, not my choice, but it doesn’t bother me at all that it exists).
The thought of any for-profit venture running a school makes my flesh crawl almost as much as for-profit prisons. Next thing you know, someone is going to want to make cash off of the air we breathe.
I remember when I was attending school a number of universities back in the part of the country I grew up in had a “University High School” associated with them. I can even remember them in the local spots sections on saturday morning.
My wife talks about a school being associated with UNC when she was up there and even asked our daughter about it when were walking around campus this fall.
Her response was, “I think that building is just storage and offices now.”
What killed these schools?
Charter schools here in Colorado are much more strictly controlled than in most states. Some charter schools can enroll (or decline to enroll) by student ability, and they do not necessarily need to meet state requirements for curriculum, certification, or testing.
“Others” founding Charters, even here in Colorado, can include the corporations who hope to manage them for profit.
I think Colorado in general does a good job of managing its charter schools (with a few exceptions), but I don’t think it’s good in a general discussion to paint them as rosy as a narrow look at Colorado’s charters paints them.
then we need to be specific and say so.
I’m against school districts making charters with corporations. I believe making money off of school children is immoral and obscene.
I am not against school districts making charters with neighborhood parents — in fact, I encourage it.
so I’m not as tuned into education issues as many of you.
But… hasn’t it been presumed that this was a done deal the day the rightwing whackjobs swept the “non-partisan” Dougco school board election?
but you probably don’t have a lot of friends that come to you looking for answers to “simple” yes-or-no-type of questions? ;~)
Nice diary, bordering on the Grimm.
They only ask once. 🙂
made it sound as though “some” non-religious schools were included after complaints that all the choices would be religious schools in the new Douglas county vouchers mainly for the affluent system. On channel 7 news they reported that there is a whopping one non-religious school on the list. Clearly it’s there just so they can point to it and say this isn’t about religion, it’s about choice. Well , not so much.
That’s why some parents who don’t want their tax dollars going to private religious schools and away from the public schools are talking about bringing law suits.
“That’s why some parents who don’t want their tax dollars going to private religious schools and away from the public schools are talking about bringing law suits.”
Why isn’t this a “separation of church and state” issue? Shouldn’t our state attorney general be challenging county decisions like this one? (I know, I know…. dream on…)
our SOS, do you? But I hope the suits are brought by someone with standing.
SO, NC, fit DPS into your grouping. Name me one school where the BOE turned the school over to the “parents” in the school? You know that DPS parents lost the right to vote, in a preference poll, on any changes in their children’s schools, over seven years ago. Are you in agreement with that?
And, again, Meija sat on the Denver BOE for four years. What were his accomplishments? If he were running for the SEnate or a state legislative position, then I think his position on education funding would be relevant. But he is not.
So what has he done for DPS?
which you hope to speak, and if you’re insured.
http://denverhealth.org/LinkCl…
I also have to disagree that funding is not an issue for the mayor. Any increase or bond is going to need the full support of whoever the mayor is. If someone thinks that it can wait, or that it should be built around a certain model, it has sway in the process. Every candidate is going to have a pet issue, that’s the one they’ll fight hardest for.
Whether you think that Mejia won’t fight for it, another candidate has a better cause or will fight better, or if you have a different issue altogether, it matters.
I don’t stump for Mejia. Let his staff answer the question. I don’t follow his every move. I just like the guy. Shoot me.
My diary is very general. I know people in Cherry Creek School District, North Carolina, and in Michigan whose kids are in Charter schools. I don’t know anyone whose kid are in a Denver charter school. I hope they will jump in and inform us from their point of view.
If you live in Denver, you should post about the charter agreements between DPS and the charter schools. Every taxpayer in DPS should know what they are paying for. If the charters do not allow parents to determine school policy, why or why not? What do your charters say exactly? Every school district across the country can write their charters however they want them to read. That was the entire point of my section on “charter schools”. I live in Cherry Creek School District so that is the one I pay most attention to.
I could very well be confused. You wrote all about wolves eating children or something. I just wondered where you put dps in those categories.
Now, because you wrote so glowingly about Meija, I naturally presume you knew something about his tenure on the DPS BOE. My bad. never mind. carry on.
which is a topic not understood or valued by the vast majority of politicians, particularly those who try to ID themselves as “pro-education” or “education reform”. There have been numerous studies that indicate that when you put a dollar in early childhood education, you get a return on your investment later from seven to twelve dollars (depending on the study) in lower delinquency rates, remedial education, high school retention, prison costs, etc. A child’s educational profile is influenced long before they step foot in kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN IS TOO LATE TO START. It is the wise legislator who knows this and acts upon it.
Google this phrase, “every dollar invested in early childhood education saves return”. You will get numerous pages of studies proving my point. THAT is why James Mejia impresses me so much.
This value is not popular because it does not create a quick fix. The average legislator wants something easy to do — something they can point to a year or 18 months later. Those who invest in Early Childhood Education are more concerned with the kids in the long run than they are having some numbers to give donors a year or two later.
Headstart is almost fifty years old.. Where do you get the idea that the “average legislator” or even me, for that matter, doesn’t value preschool??
I don’t recall Mejia being involved in the campaign to fund preschool education in Denver. Hickenlooper, the foundations and day care advocates were behind the effort.
Denver taxpayers voted to fund preschool, which was a good thing. I voted for it.
You know, of course, that Mejia was never a legislator. He sat on the denver board of education for four years.
Look, I don’t understand where you are going with all of this.
I told you now several times
1) I don’t work for the guy.
2) I don’t care as much about this race as (clearly) you do.
3) I don’t care what he did or did not do at DPS.
4) My liking Mejia has everything to do with his family standing strong for preschool education for decades. Ophelia is a giant in the field of early childhood in Colorado, and James inherited her commitment to it. I respect the guy for that.
This diary was never about Mejia, but you’ve hijacked it, dwyer. The diary was (is) about me sharing what I know about education reform with my friend, and anyone else who wanted to read it and chime in. As a taxpayer in Cherry Creek School District, I am only mildly concerned with the problems you face at DPS.
And last, I am glad to hear you understand how important the early childhood years are to a person’s developing brain and later academic performance.
All politics is local and education is no exception.
The only common thread in education reform across Colorado is that money is tight.
There are union politics in education in Colorado. Douglas County Republicans organized a pro-vocher, anti-union slate that swept the election. Denver’s Board of Education is deeply divided between union supported candidates who are wary of school choice steps that could shrink their turf and those backed by affluent individuals who seee a system that is failing and think that an overhaul that enhances choice is the ticket.
But, Aurora’s schools is mostly trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that in a decade or two their district has become dramatically less affluent and less English speaking. They cut mandatory PE requirements becauase they have kids that are underperforming academically and want them to go to college.
Jefferson County and Adams County Schools are simply trying to figure out how to make deep fiscal cuts with minimal damage in not particularly partisan contexts. Greeley is trying to figure out how to run a struggling institution in a struggling city with an insane nutjob on the school board creating irrelevant drama.
Poisoning the well by encouraging an attitude that demonizes people who are trying to find something that works for schools in the state doesn’t do anybody any good. One can disagree with an idea without questioning the motives of the people who hold it. K-12 education in Colorado is not mostly, or even significantly, a wolves v. shepards debate. It is more like a buskerfest or county fair with a lot of different attractions securing different sized crowds and many people interesting in taking in as many attractions as possible. People have their preferences and agendas, but very few want to have the kids for dinner.
I agree with 95% of what you are saying. I still stand by my assertion that many who push for reform are doing it because they want A)Religious converts, or B)Future customers. I do not believe their motives are sincere nor ethical — they want to use the students to further their own corporate or religious agendas, which have nothing to do with opening the minds and educating children.
I do think the vast majority of people who care about our schools fall into my “shepherds” category. I wrote as much in my diary. Even if there are 500 shepherds to one devious wolf, we still need to watch out for the wolves, since they do tend to run in packs.
should receive an education consistent with one’s own religious worldview, or to believe that preparing someone for a good job is the primary purpose of an education. One can have legitimate disagreement over how religious education should be paid for and provided, and how much of a priority future economic success should be, but neither objective is “anti-child.”
You may not agree with their goals, but those motives are not insincere, and are not unethical.
Great great post! And I’m so sorry for this late note, as I was terribly late in checking
Anyways – my thoughts –
1. Yes, we must use more multiple intelligence, cooperative learning, and project based learning — these are TESTED methods that work, enlighten, and most importantly, ENGAGE children – this, ultimately, is what will take our education system into the next frontier
2. EVALUATION – Yes, schools should be evaluated, but not on the basis of test scores – the IQ is not a proper measurement of true intelligence – truly, the best way to measure a school is what percent of children are passing — yes, Conservatives will chide that the standards in the school are not ‘high enough’ but shouldn’t we have more faith in our schools and trust them? (LOCAL CONTROL?)
3. EXTRA CURRICULARS – for high school in particular, we MUST spend money on extra curriculars – in most States, a child can drop out at 16 and that is the age where we need to make sure that our children are feeling the most engaged – a child could hate all of his/her classes, but if there’s ONE extra curricular that engages them, they’ll probably stay in school – numerous studies prove that point, in addition to how great extra curriculars are for a child’s self esteem and intellectual development
4. CRIMINAL LAWS – we have to get off this horse that ‘the parents need to get involved’ and that it is their fault, for a child not succeeding — thanks to Republicans passing atrocious 3-Strikes-Laws & drug laws, families in our barrios and ghettos are being destroyed, as parents are being carted off in droves on drug charges that many would consider minor (if not harmless) offenses — if you must penalize a marijuana user, then send them to REHAB or community service, not JAIL — the lack of families is, ultimately, what starts gangs in our barrios and ghettos
Last note – the HYPOCRISY of the Republican Party is that they want to create federal standards (regulations) upon every school in America, yet they also want to funnel every child into a private school – I’m not against school choice, but I hate placing regulations on public schools – the reason why private schools thrive is because teachers there can teach without the shadow of REGULATIONS constantly hammering them
A message to Republicans who favor paying teachers based on performance and ‘standards’ — have you considered that government is the “problem” not the “solution”?
Have faith in our public school teachers, people…
I was proud to serve as tyro-teacher in the Los Angeles Unified Public School District for a year and a half, back when I was getting a Masters in Teaching — it was a great experience, and truly, the experience that motivated me most to run for office
Love and peace all!