Will School Reform Degenerate Into Privatization?
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| http://openforwardthinking.blogspot.com |
After linking to a chart by Paul Thomas which illustrates the "insanity" of school "reform," Diane Ravitch explains her conclusion that the goal of today's attempts to restructure education is not school improvement, but privatization. So, Ravitch no longer uses the word "reformer," and instead uses the word "privatizer."
My initial reaction was that Ravitch is too harsh. Most "reformers" who I know, whether they came from Teach for America, charter schools or a business background, want to help poor children of color and, like me, they have no contact with behind-the-scenes true believers in market-driven policies. But reading Thomas' post and James Cersonsky's American Prospect article, I worry that Ravitch, once again, may be prescient.
Thomas provides the conventional list of problems that undermine educational opportunities for poor children of color, such as disproportionately inexperienced and uncertified teachers, public schools increasingly segregated by race and socioeconomic status, and three decades of standards-based testing and accountability to close the test-based achievement gap.
Then, he lists "reform" solutions -- inexperienced and uncertified TFA recruits, segregated charter