Frederick M. Hess's Blog
Why Santa Claus Isn't a School Reform Icon
by Frederick M. Hess • Apr 22, 2010 at 9:27 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Even as our earnest Secretary of Education Arne Duncan enthusiastically embraces Senator Tom Harkin's pander-refic $23 billion "Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010" (don't worry, the 2011 version is sure to visit a theater near you in due course), he's insisting that this development won't compromise his credibility or effectiveness as a reformer.
Me, I'm skeptical. There's a reason that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren't usually regarded as reform-minded icons. The crux of reform is the insistence on changing the way business is done. That's much harder to do when one is proffering gifts with no strings attached, and especially when those gifts dwarf the meager allowance that parents are urging children to earn. Necessity is a crucial driver of change. Making it easier for states and districts to kick the can down the road on addressing unaffordable benefits, inefficient outlays, and
