AFT president-to-be Randi Weingarten says No Child Left Behind is too badly broken to be fixed and will offer an alternative vision of public schools as “community centers that help poor students succeed by offering not only solid classroom lessons but also medical and other services,” reports the New York Times.
Weingarten is expected to be elected to the presidency of the AFT today in Chicago. The Times this morning publishes excerpts from her speech:
Can you imagine a federal law that promoted community schools — schools that serve the neediest children by bringing together under one roof all the services and activities they and their families need?…Imagine schools that are open all day and offer after-school and evening recreational activities, child care and preschool, tutoring and homework assistance. Schools that include dental, medical and counseling clinics.
There’s nothing wrong with the vision, which is thoughtful and humane. The devil, as always, is in the details. Too often in my South Bronx elementary school it felt as if education were an afterthought, and that we functioned as the social services agency of last resort. The resources required for all schools to function as community centers are daunting, to understate the case.
Aligning herself squarely with the “broader, bolder” ed reform group, Weingarten tells the Times in an interview: “We all have to work tenaciously to eliminate the achievement gap and to turn around low-performing schools. But the folks who believe that this can all be done on teachers’ shoulders, which is what No Child tries to do, are doing a huge disservice to America.”
I expect there will be lots more to say as the day goes on.
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Robert,
You just defined the problem when you wrote:
“Too often in my South Bronx elementary school it felt as if education were an afterthought, and that we functioned as the social services agency of last resort. The resources required for all schools to function as community centers are daunting, to understate the case.”
We need a three step approach:
1. kill NCLB-type accountability stop pounding so much of its resources down the dry hole of blame and shame creating CYA.
2. direct resources toward the Randi/Bolder Broader approach, using the argument of “pay me now or pay me later,” and
3. figure out a way to address your point.
We don’t yet have answers to your question, but at least it directs us down the right path. We have a couple of years, and I hope the edusphere can contribute.
2. direct resources toward the Randi/Bolder Broader approach
I have a better idea. Let’s wait until you can proffer some evidence that the Randi/Bolder Broader approach actually works.
1. kill NCLB-type accountability stop pounding so much of its resources down the dry hole of blame and shame creating CYA.
So how do we break out of the trap where to call into question NCLB-type accountability (which I agree is counter-productive and full of perverse incentive) is to be labeled an apologist for mediocrity and the status-quo?
I usually don’t respond to blogs like this but this one really got me going: Excuse me, but isn’t this the problem with education today — trying to be all things to all people? A schools’ job is to educate… and as a parent, I do not want someone else pushing their own social agenda on my child, especially at school. Yes, parents are abdicating their responsibility, but it is not the schools’ responsibility to make up for parental deficits!