Letter to a Young Education Reformer
A young MBA student tells her classmates that “education reform” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Many of my classmates in business school assume that education reform is a good thing. Accountability! Improvement! Closing the Achievement gap! Usually they know some Teach for America alums (who are now lawyers), or they’ve watched “Waiting for Superman.” They’ve heard of charter schools (which of course they didn’t attend), and being business-minded, they assume that privately-run schools will somehow be better. Because many of my classmates will go on to be business leaders, decision makers, employers and parents, I think it’s important that they understand what education reform is really about. Here’s what I tell them:
Data isn’t everything
Did anyone here get really fired up for practicing the GMATs? Would your 9 year old self have loved school if
Many of my classmates in business school assume that education reform is a good thing. Accountability! Improvement! Closing the Achievement gap! Usually they know some Teach for America alums (who are now lawyers), or they’ve watched “Waiting for Superman.” They’ve heard of charter schools (which of course they didn’t attend), and being business-minded, they assume that privately-run schools will somehow be better. Because many of my classmates will go on to be business leaders, decision makers, employers and parents, I think it’s important that they understand what education reform is really about. Here’s what I tell them:
Data isn’t everything
Did anyone here get really fired up for practicing the GMATs? Would your 9 year old self have loved school if