Written by David Wolinsky   

Sixteen school-system executives, "responsible for educating nearly 2 1/2 million students in America," published their Manifesto in the Washington Post on October 10, 2010. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705078.html). They believe that with the recent documentary "Waiting for Superman" and other high profile phenomena, the time is ripe for them to weigh in on the national debate.

They have weighed in -- with old myths in new bottles. The old myths tell us that schools are businesses whose products are competitive employees. The new bottles are "the 21st-century global economy" and -- some might claim -- the 21st-century American corporate state.

This is a dangerous potion. It mixes the mandate to get the best teachers into the classroom with the need to "stop ignoring basic economic principles of supply and demand". The obstacles? Unions are not named; they are merely implicated as the purveyors of "archaic rules". What Jon Kozol called the “savage inequalities” among schools is reduced to “zip codes,” “school choice,” and top-down technocratic solutions.

Top-down with a vengeance. Yet the authors and their co-thinkers have successfully claimed the mantle of school reform. Its central truth -- that schools must put the needs of children before the needs of adults -- has been appropriated by a very adult logic: that of the efficient and savvy business administrator.

This is a slippery slope, or maybe slippery educated slop. One way to see if we "put children first" is to examine local, state and federal budget lines. Money does not produce learning, but it’s a strong indication of priorities. These “leaders” accept corporate, military and global-finance priorities before they consider children.

Some would say their businesslike approach is simple, adult realism. After all, no school superintendent -- not even one with the title CEO -- sets dollar priorities for society. They do the best with what is given. The rest of us – teachers included – need to recognize how drastically public-school “walk” and “talk” have parted ways, especially for administrators. The manifesto – along with similar proposals from Arne Duncan’s Dept. of Education – relies on Orwellian mythmaking. Why a “race to the top”? Obama administration education policy is a “practical” zero-sum rat race for schools and students.

But if society is reflected by its leaders and elected representatives, then we are all implicated. Anyone could see the truth in the inferior classrooms that the superintendents decry, but tougher would be to visit the homes of those students.

Averted eyes might still note the statistics for USA child poverty. "Zip codes" and socioeconomic status may not be fate, but what they bring into the classroom limits most teachers, and intimidates many. That's why union leaders can share the same fatal pragmatism as their corporate and school-system counterparts.

Extraordinary teachers make a silk purse out of society's sow’s ear. The Superintendents insinuate: Just give us the power to get rid of the dead weight, and we will fill classrooms with these heroes. In the next parenthetical breath they direct us to “when cuts have to be made”.

Cuts. Necessary because times are bad. Times are bad because markets and/or government have taken us there. Everyone is suffering from cuts. So goes the logic. Urban and rural poor, however, had shameful classrooms during good times as well.

These Masters of the School Universe boffer "the" alternative to the status quo. Listen: You can hear them blaming unions in the same way that teachers who are rightfully reluctant to blame their students, blame parents. (Single parents or even no parents in enough cases!) Everyone is for accountability and against incompetence. Easy targets direct attention away from the agendas of money and power.

As one of Shakespeare's generals had it, "There is a world elsewhere". To the extent that they are "realists" who believe their own mythology (the authors of the Manifesto), or overwhelmed by problems that do not originate in schools, most school leaders do not look for that world.

Who does? Riane Eisler, among others, has treated the overall economics. Here’s another suggestive exploration: Joel Klein, the premiere Manifesto author, had a long career in law that included Supreme Court clerking, corporate counsel, the Clinton Administration -- and onward to New York City schools chancellor. Leaders in Baltimore, DC, and elsewhere worked for him or share his outlook.

As Klein’s career picked up steam, there was a boisterous and flourishing reform movement in New York City, based on “decentralized” attention to children and learning. A key figure in that cooperative movement -- which rose to district-level influence in the city -– is now also one of Klein’s leading critics. Her name is Deborah Meier. Not a savior, but someone whose tough wisdom comes from a lifetime as teacher, administrator, and reformer.

She’s still at it. Her work offers a good reference point for what has been achieved for young learners –- and for where we still must go.

References

Kozol, Jonathan, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (New York: Crown, 1991)

Eisler, Riane, “Roadmap To A New Economics: Beyond Capitalism And Socialism” in Tikkun Magazine, November/December 2009. Also available at http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/nov_dec_09_eisler

http://www.deborahmeier.com/Columns/column08- 12.htm
http://www.deborahmeier.com/Columns/column07-09.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Klein

by David Almaleck Wolinsky
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