StickWithANose

As I noted previously, the conversion of Diane Ravitch constitutes an important milestone in contemporary education reform in that one of the biggest and best known supporters of charters, accountability, and choice has been convinced by educational research that those policies are both ineffective and destructive to the larger goals of education. Today, another insider raises his voice to call out the destructive path we’re traveling down. The question is: Will anybody listen?

I don’t believe.  I wish I could believe.  I am supposed to believe.  But, I don’t. I don’t believe in education “reform” in our country.

I don’t believe charter schools are a panacea, I don’t believe that linking student achievement to teacher evaluation will significantly impact education, and for that matter, I don’t believe student achievement” should be the ultimate goal of education in our country.

I am supposed to believe in all this, especially if you look at my resume and follow the major media discussion of education “reform.” Let me explain.

When I graduated from college in 1994 I joined Teach For America.  I taught two years in Paterson, NJ (made famous by Joe “Batman” Clark from Eastside High School – which was just across the street from the 1,000-student K-8 school where I taught.  After my two years of TFA service I became one of the first teachers and administrators at KIPP in the South Bronx.  After three years at KIPP, I spent the next nine years co-founding and co-directing a new school in Harlem which started as a school-within-a school, was part of a take-over of a failing school that was closed, became an official New York City public school, and then converted to become one of only five conversion charter schools in NYC.

Next, I came to Denver, where I worked for Denver Public Schools in the New Schools Office where I became its Executive Director and reshaped the office to become the Office of School Reform and Innovation.  And, now I am working on opening another charter school and a charter management organization (CMO) that will support a network of charter schools in the metro Denver area.

I have wanted to communicate about my beliefs, or “unbeliefs” for a long time.  Diane Ravitch’s book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education” emboldened me to write this blog.  It’s not that I agree with everything Ravitch says.  It’s just that I felt like it was a courageous act on her part to write it.  Frankly, it was inspiring and motivating.  And, so much of the book connected to my own experiences…

As a parent and as an educator I think about the question “What is education?” constantly.  My answers have changed over time and are still changing.  In future posts I will explore my answers.  My question for today is not what reforms we should or should not believe.  It is simply this – what’s your vision of a good education?  It’s time to have this conversation, however messy it may be.