Message to people who like the idea of things like weighted student formulas, decentralization, merit pay, improving the tenure process, etc: You have to think hard about whether this is really the crew you want implementing this kind of important stuff. How can we even talk about getting rid of incompetent teachers when the mayor has created a system that so warmly embraces incompetent bureaucrats?
There's a tendency among folks in positions like mine to characterize teachers as being obstructionist or anti-accountability when they oppose the types of reform ideas Joe lists above, but the reality is that teachers who have been living and working in dysfunctional systems have good reasons not to trust the people that would be given greater decision-making authority under some reform schemes. And policy types should listen to that, not just dismiss it or wish it away. The dysfunction and problematic behaviors that weaken many of our school systems aren't independently occurring phenomena--they are causally connected and feed off each other. You can't address one without also impacting a host of other relationships and behaviors. That's why "add on" reforms, like new curricula, or reducing class size, or extending class time, or whatever else is the flavor of the week, even though they may be really good ideas, can't fix things on their own. Fundamental improvement requires shocking the system in a way that breaks through the baggage of accumulated behaviors and relationships. I don't think anyone has yet figured out how to do that really well. Even in the cities that are making positive progress on reform, there's still a tremendous amount of conflict and mistrust, lots of incompetence remaining in the system, and dysfunctional behavior going on at all levels.
No comments:
Post a Comment