Thinking Citizen Blog — Triple F: The Bermuda Triangle of American Public (and Private) Schools
Thinking Citizen Blog — Friday is Education and Education Policy Day
Today’s Topic — Triple F: The Bermuda Triangle of American Public (and Private) Schools
Public schools matter. Why? Because equality of opportunity matters. Public schools are the vehicles of equality of opportunity. If they’re broken down, they won’t run. The key to proper functioning are high standards, a great curriculum, and great teachers. And American public schools overall (there are exceptions) get an “F” on all three scores. But it’s not just the public schools that are a disaster. It’s so painful to say that I’ve never heard it said before. In fact, I’ve never said it before. But denial is no recipe for progress. Truth hurts. And swept under the rug, hard facts come back to bite you. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate. (Photos below are of three great teachers — Jaime Escalante, Rafe Esquith, and Marva Collins)
TEACHERS FROM BOTTOM THIRD OF CLASSES NOT TOP 10% AS IN FINLAND
1. It’s nice to think we are all above average. It’s just not true. Maybe we are all above average at something. But that’s different.
2. Lack of rigorous training. Teachers get tenure “if they’re still breathing.” A system based on seniority not merit is not compatible with a goal of equality of opportunity.
3. If you fail as a teacher you get shunted to the least desirable schools. This is called the “dance of the lemons.” The least desirable schools are the ones in the least desirable neighborhoods with the most difficult students. This shunting is incompatible with the goal of equality of opportunity.
A GREAT CURRICULUM — DEAD CANARIES LITTER THE HALLS OF HARVARD AND OTHER ELITE INSTITUTIONS, AND WHAT ABOUT PHYSICAL EDUCATION, ART, AND MUSIC?
1. Harvard Law School students don’t know the Preamble to the Constitution! Even Harvard Law School professors don’t! Even Harvard Law School professors of US Constitutional Law don’t. (If you don’t know this gruesome story, grab me at lunch next Tuesday, and I’ll share it with you).
2. Just made new friends from Hawaii at the North Bridge. They were visiting their daughter who was a star student at the elite high school that Barack Obama attended. The father worked three shifts to afford the tuition. His daughter is in ROTC. He asked his daughter what happened on Dec 7th. She didn’t know. He asked her what year the Civil War started, she guessed, “1949?” It’s not just public school curricula that get an “F.”
3. And how can physical education, art, and music be considered peripheral rather than essential? The best ways to teach math and physics are in fact sports, art, and music. All are applied math and physics. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. How can you make vital life decisions with respect to your career if you don’t know what you are best at and what you love the most? How can you know that without the disciplined training that alone can answer these questions for you — across the full range of disciplines (including sports, art, and music).
HIGH STANDARDS — THE LOWER THE STANDARDS, THE LOWER THE PERFORMANCE
1. Have you seen any of the great teacher movies of all time? If not, well watch a few. Starting perhaps with “Stand and Deliver” (1988) telling the story of math teacher Jaime Escalante. The same story — high standards are the key to high performance.
2. Have you read any of the books by Rafe Esquith, the legendary teacher from Los Angeles? They should be required reading for every student in America. Start with “There are No Shortcuts.” Esquith performed miracles for decades. His formula is beautiful and no secret. How to fix the system is no mystery. What is lacking is sufficient focused attention by enough people to make a difference. Is there a better use of your time?
3. The lower the standards for the least privileged because of their lack of privilege is no favor to them and a recipe for an ever widening shortfall between the dream of equality of opportunity and the reality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Escalante
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafe_Esquith
Pursuing Happiness, Through Hard Work
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to education or education policy. Or the coolest thought however half-baked you had. Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to education or education policy that the rest of us may have missed. Or just some random education-related fact that blew you away.
This is your chance to make some one’s day. Or to cement in your own mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something that is dear to your heart.
