School Reform as Theater (Part 1)
The current cat fight between “reformers” and “anti-reformers,” between”no excuses” virtue-crats and self-righteous “defenders of the status quo,” between…well, you know the “good” and “bad” guys. Note, however, that none of these groups is monolithic. Reformer networks vary. Think ex-Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel or imagine teacher union leader Randi Weingarten working with Green Dot to open a charter school in New York City.
Monolithic networks of reformers may be non-existent but these internal differences evaporate when it comes to challenging dearly-held beliefs. Fighting binds like-minded people, sharpens differences with opponents, and gets the adrenalin flowing. Bloggers, journalists, and researcher angry at those who want more charter schools, cherish KIPP, and chase algorithms that promise better teacher evaluation point to the unsavory motives of edu-preneurs (see for-profit charter schools). They scold unaccountable billionaires for funding school reforms or see expanding for-profit charter school and cyber-school management organizations as definitive evidence of privatizing public education. They use reformers’ motives (e.,g., destroy public schools, make money) to explain
