Things educators could say but don’t
With reform policies based more on hope than data, you might think educators would speak up more than do. Why don’t they? Here’s some thoughts about why most stay quiet, from Robert Bligh, former general counsel of the Nebraska Association of School Boards. Blight’s research interest involves the efficacy of the school reform efforts promoted by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act since its original adoption in 1965. He served as assistant professor at Doane College and was editor
and publisher of the Nebraska School Law Reporter.
and publisher of the Nebraska School Law Reporter.
By Robert Bligh
Many public policies – especially those established at the federal level – seem to be riddled
with “reasons” that are based more on hope than data. No category of public policies fits this description better than America’s public policies on K-12 education. About 37 years ago, when I became the first agency legal counsel at the Nebraska Department of Education, I began to suspect that K-12 teachers and their schools were being held responsible for things that were completely beyond their reach. Most of what I have observed since about K-12 education has supported that suspicion.
with “reasons” that are based more on hope than data. No category of public policies fits this description better than America’s public policies on K-12 education. About 37 years ago, when I became the first agency legal counsel at the Nebraska Department of Education, I began to suspect that K-12 teachers and their schools were being held responsible for things that were completely beyond their reach. Most of what I have observed since about K-12 education has supported that suspicion. Federal statutes governing public education have been based more on hope than data since
