Why Don't We 'Fix' Poverty While We're at It?
Deborah Meier concludes her recent discussion with Michael Petrilli today. The two hope to launch a new blog conversation in the fall. Next week, Todd Sutler of the Odyssey Initiative joins Deborah on Bridging Differences.
Dear Michael,
Poverty and global warming are alike, as you say, in the sense that both are in large man-made (and women-made). And neither is easy to "fix." Urgent pleas to be more environmentally conscious in one's lifestyle choices are not the solution; neither is a plea to the poor to get (and stay) married or remain childless, read to their children at night, oversee homework, and on and on. Both require a seriousness of purpose we are not prepared to take—I fear. But looking to schools to "fix" the world's problems is flattering—and we sometimes fall for it—but essentially a distraction. We've tried—and come up with some good ideas as my colleague Todd Sutler will describe in next Tuesday's blog post. But every time the Big Boys (forgive the sexism) try to "scale it up" fast they abandon what we've learned and fall back on the ideas for schooling that they wouldn't want for their own children combined with a totally inappropriate approach to governance—the who decides what question. There is
Dear Michael,
Poverty and global warming are alike, as you say, in the sense that both are in large man-made (and women-made). And neither is easy to "fix." Urgent pleas to be more environmentally conscious in one's lifestyle choices are not the solution; neither is a plea to the poor to get (and stay) married or remain childless, read to their children at night, oversee homework, and on and on. Both require a seriousness of purpose we are not prepared to take—I fear. But looking to schools to "fix" the world's problems is flattering—and we sometimes fall for it—but essentially a distraction. We've tried—and come up with some good ideas as my colleague Todd Sutler will describe in next Tuesday's blog post. But every time the Big Boys (forgive the sexism) try to "scale it up" fast they abandon what we've learned and fall back on the ideas for schooling that they wouldn't want for their own children combined with a totally inappropriate approach to governance—the who decides what question. There is