Don’t Treat Schools Like Competitive Businesses by David Negaard
Originally posted at: https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/03/dont-treat-schools-like-competitive-businesses/?fbclid=IwAR0COMqiueZzgJf8UNZBdYU5WpcYnS24UzhunPQxoIRIUpJYBWxLtUMf2MU
Once more for the people in the back: Schools aren’t businesses, kids aren’t product, employers aren’t schools’ customers or clients, and standardized tests aren’t quality control. It is not schools’ primary function to produce (compliant, obedient) employees for the titans of industry, but rather self-actualized citizens who think critically and effectively and can create a better future for themselves and for all of us.
The purpose of public schools is to elevate all students. All public schools have the same basic goal and do not and should not compete with one another for resources, for students, for anything. Neither should public school students compete with one another for opportunities or status.
Whether schools or students, when they compete, there are winners and losers, and that is contrary to the premise of public education. Neither schools nor students should be subject to Darwinian “survival of the fittest” pressures. Competition (fostered by so-called “school choice” and “accountability” initiatives) pits would-be allies — schools, principals, teachers, even students — against one another and “may the odds be ever in your favor.”
Recently, HawaiiKidsCAN, a branch of venture capital-funded “50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now,” published a critique (“analysis”) of Hawaii public schools based on 50CAN’s “four dimensions of a healthy and dynamic learning system.” Among the “lenses” they use CONTINUE READING: Badass Teachers Association Blog: Don’t Treat Schools Like Competitive Businesses by David Negaard
