A Standard Curriculum Won't Erase Gaps
Deborah Meier's conversation with Robert Pondiscio continues today.
Dear Robert,
Democracy is not easy or maybe even possible to mandate—as the story of many a so-called democracy should remind us. So, too, for schools that prepare us for democracy.
Re. Ravitch and Meier. Diane's call for a "voluntary" national curriculum doesn't faze me. I disagree with her about state-mandated curriculums. Diane and I however agree that making test scores the measure of achievement is a disaster. But most importantly, we agree that what's behind much of the current "crisis mongering" about public education is an effort to privatize. How a mandated national curriculum or privatization promotes accountability or equality is a mystery to both Diane and myself. That's what I'm trying to understand.
Maybe it boils down to this. I want my child's schooling to be the responsibility of someone I can talk to—eyeball to eyeball. I want a lay board and faculty that I can try to persuade, and that is— in the end—accountable to a democratic process that rests with citizens I can, with my limited