The Either-Or School Reform Debate (Jeff Bryant)
The split among school reformers is sometimes characterized as a dog fight among political liberals. The dog fight has now become a political struggle for public opinion. One side is composed of market-driven technocrats or the “no excuses” crowd–Ex-Chancellors of New York City and Washington, D.C., edu-entrepreneurs, Bill Gates et. al., big city superintendents, U. S. President and Secretary of Education. They get the most media attention and have the most money. Their opponents often characterized as supporters of the “status quo” look to improve both schools and community conditions. They argue that schools can and must improve but that poverty and social conditions cannot be ignored by putting all weight on schools to lift children and youth into the middle class. Mostly academics–Linda Darling-Hammond, Diane Ravitch, Pedro Noguera, etc.– long-time critics of urban systems–Jonathan Kozol,
