Oprah Style School Reform

Last week I watched my first episode of Oprah from start to finish. The topic was education and the founder of Facebook was donating $100 million to the Newark public schools. The New Jersey Governor and Mayor of Newark were there speaking about education reform. The public system needs it. As always, in political rhetoric, the core of the problem is ignored and popular talking points are repeated. Yes, there are some horrible teachers protected by the unions. The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals and they deserve to have job security. Schools are often underfunded and lack important supplies. There is a lot of mismanagement of money in how schools are heated and cooled, unnecessary job positions created to manage the yearly trends in data, teaching techniques, and protocols that get discarded well before they can realistically be implemented. There is a huge amount of money spent on standardized tests and the companies that produce them and money spent on remedial programs for the same set of students each year. The Oprah show felt good, but missed the point.

I've taught in the NYC public schools for 6 years. While I think it is wonderful that this money is being put towards education. There is one HUGE aspect of education that is always avoided, ignored, or otherwise forgotten. The need for student accountability is omitted. The only criteria for a student to pass the 6th or 7th grade is if they score a 2 out of 4 on either the math or literacy standardized tests. They can fail every class, curse out teachers, skip classes, and get in regular fights without impunity. If they score above a 1, they move on. Students in high school can fail a class and can attend summer school. If they fail that, they can stay after school for a couple weeks and get the credit. If they skip that, there is a weekend school. Each step is less rigorous for passing so schools can move students along, because schools are graded largely on passing percentage. Education should be a right AND a privilege. Teacher should be protected but bad teachers need to be let go. Parents should be much more involved. Students should continue to earn their education NOT just receive it.