Can We Talk? (I Mean Really…) | EduShyster

Can We Talk? (I Mean Really…) | EduShyster:

Can We Talk? (I Mean Really…)

The 49er says that Education Post can’t start a conversation—because its founders and funders already have all of the answers.

By *The 49er*
In a recent offline conversation, EduShyster and I were trying to figure out a name for the group of people that are opposing reformers. You see reformers are easy to place in a camp. Even though there are internal fights on issues such as Common Core and the role of the federal government in education, there is general agreement that there need to be major changes to public education in America. But the camp which is fighting those reformers (and probably most of the people reading this post) isn’t so easy to define. Harvard Professor Jal Mehta defines this camp as  traditionalists. (Why do I suspect that EduShyster is bristling at the use of that term?) [Editorial note: she is!]

A Camp Without a Name
Many in this group would advocate for the creation of progressive public schools likeBoston’s Mission Hill School or for Al Shanker’s original vision for charter schools as laboratories of innovation that worked alongside traditional public schools. While many people in this group are union members or union supporters, it’s not just unions that are fighting against reformers. Heck, often times the unions don’t even seem to be fighting against the reformers.

Meet the Hollisticrats
The term I’ve been bouncing around in my head for this group is the *Hollisticrats.* OK, OK—I know it’s super wonky, but hear me out. It encompasses the belief that this group shares that education must be adequately Can We Talk? (I Mean Really…) | EduShyster: