School Reform requires a Reality Check - An Open Letter to Bill & Melinda Gates, Jonathon Kozol, Rev. Meeks, & Oprah Winfrey...  Written By Dr. Kathleen P. Loftus--columnist EducationNews.org...

    "As a seasoned educator I witness firsthand every day the problems with our     current educational system that are not simply the result of racially-biased education, but of a bureaucracy designed to ensure the success of only one  group of students.I have identified what I believe to be the five greatest  problems affecting America's schools today, as well as five corresponding and achievable solutions.

    In order to confront our nation's growing educational crisis we must first face a stark reality.What is being characterized as a "race" problem is actually largely a "poverty" problem."

Well, I think Dr. Loftus is on to something!  I have to start with the fact that I love Oprah, and I admire all that Bill and Melinda Gates have done for education in America and around the world...  And clearly, we do have a problem with racial discrimination in our school systems that should be addressed...  I do not have a beef with Oprah's vision or the Gates, but I have to ask are there some valid points in this letter? 

It's time for America to get real about why our education system seems to be failing a large segment of our youth...  Our education system is broken on many levels, and to continue to berate teachers and administrators, as if somehow we can will the education system right through longer hours and more attention to "standards" is lunacy.  Teachers hands are tied on many fronts--as this letter points out...  And a new ideology should be adopted. 

I believe that all students can learn, but I do not believe that all students have the same capacity to learn (based on a variety of factors) or the same desire--yet with legislation like No Child Left Behind teachers, schools, and districts are being held accountable as if all learners were the same...  Let's be real--how many studies have been conducted that show the language development deficiencies of children living in poor socioeconomic households--more affluent households have given their children a measurable and significant advantage by the time their children enter kindergarten--an advantage that can predict with high accuracy their educational outcome... How are teachers and schools to combat statistics like that?  Now, I'm not suggesting that we give up, just that we get real--it's a poverty issue and a resource issue.

With poverty comes many issues that teachers and school districts cannot fix alone.  Now, I've known many teachers, myself included, who have spent their own money to try and help disadvantaged students and their families--paying electricity bills, buying clothes, contacting dentists and doctors to comp services, fund raising for families in need...  This is not part of the job description, yet we do it because we know the benefit on the child's educational outcome.  Add becoming pseudo parents to our job description, as well as a heaping dose of psychology education--that might translate to greater strides on test scores...  Is that all we care about anymore?

I like this letter because Dr. Loftus does more than point out the problem, she suggests solutions.  I'm not sure I agree with them all, but hey, at least she's not spewing the same old, same old.

This idea that somehow if we penalize districts and identify poorly performing schools we will shame teachers and schools into doing a better job is absurd. 

 


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