Reformers' narrative about lagging U.S. schools covers up poverty
“The brutal fact here is there are many countries that are far ahead of us and improving more rapidly than we are." -- Arne Duncan
"Our competitors understand that the nation that out-educates us today will out-compete us tomorrow." -- Pres. ObamaThe rationale behind corporate-style school reform begins and ends with this disturbing narrative that portrays U.S. schools as lagging behind in the global race to the top. This lag is supposedly to blame for the country's economic failures and the declining competitive position of American corporations in the global economy. This narrative also underlies current school reform efforts and Duncan's Race To The Top initiative in particular. RTTT has forced the closing of thousands of schools and turning them over to privately-managed charter schools as well as the firing of thousands of teachers. None of this has improved the U.S. position in the global economy one iota. Nor has it done much to improve public education as a whole.
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| International reading scores by social class. |
A new report released yesterday shows that in fact, shows that U.S. schools ARE NOT being outpaced by