Who's the Real Progressive?
Today, Robert Pondiscio once again writes to Deborah Meier.
Dear Deborah,
I'm disappointed I've failed to persuade you that a common curriculum is a powerful lever for social justice. To me it's clear and undeniable. There can be no dispute that language proficiency rests on a bed of common knowledge. The only counter-argument to be made is whether there is some better route to ensuring every student has enough of it to communicate on an equal footing with everyone else, other than teaching a common core of content. I believe this should be a progressive ideal.
You are concerned with top-down mandates. I'm not fond of them myself. But while you fret about imposing burdens on schools, our language will continue to do what it has done for centuries, soaking up the customs, contributions, and quirks of its diverse contributors like a sponge, and squeezing them into the American vernacular bucket. We have no power to stop this process or direct it. We can only teach it. I believe it's self-evident that we must prepare children to thrive in the world, not the world we might wish for them.
I was surprised to see in your post last Thursday an extended reference to the Calhoun School here in New York City. By coincidence, as your piece went live, I was engaged in a