Steven Brill critically evaluates education reform in his book “Class Warfare”. The book looks at the ways in which successful teacher accountability programs and charter schools have had a positive impact on the performance of students, specifically from low socio-economic backgrounds. Steven Brill looks over some of the different policy changes that charter schools implement, as a way to compare to public schools. In the book, I noticed a few things that stood out to me in terms of the way charter schools view students and teachers in comparison to public schools.
Most education reformers the Brill mentions in his book, share an idea that teachers have the biggest impact on student performance. If an institution is able to keep their teachers in check then the students will perform well and thrive, regardless of the socioeconomic background. This core idea that runs throughout the entire book is something that I do not completely agree with. In the beginning of the book, you are introduced to a character by the name of Jon Schnur, who encourages Obama to follow through with the educational reform policy called “Race to the Top”. This plan took an $800 billion economic stimulus package and carve out $15 billion as a jack pot to be divided among 10-15 states that won a contest related to education reform. The states would compete for the money all based off of a point system that favored student increase in proficiency and providing alternate systems of school. These two standards of evaluation line up with values that businesses and companies follow to gain better performance from their employees.
Many businesses share values of competition and this results in putting stress on workers to perform better and faster. If you look at big business factories like GM motors, the workers in these factories we expected to improve in their performance day after day. This was a way of evaluating factory workers and a way of justifying their increase in pay. The “Race to the Top” plan is endorsing the same values but placing upon teachers now. Teachers are expected to create more effective learning plans for students under this plan, while also being held accountable regardless of factors such as class status, student mental health, and cultural difference which exist in every class room. This plan also creates unfair competition amongst states because, not all states would receive funding from the plan, just those that deserved it from their merits of their reform plan. This is another unfair advantage that high performing states will have, because it will just create a bigger gap between states that had resources to make favorable policy changes and exclude states that could not do this.
Charter schools thrive under this “Race to the Top” plan because they are independently run like private businesses are, but they receive public money from the local and federal government. Many Teach for America alumn have been behind the support of charter school systems because in their experiences, they had to be dedicated teachers and work extra hours in order to create change in the classrooms that they worked in. It is also discouraged in many Charter Schools, for teachers to join a union. Teachers essentially have less rights in a charter school system , and make less money than a teacher that would attend a public school.
Randi Weingarten is a character that is mentioned in the book who is not too favorable of charter school as well. The success of some charter schools have put pressure on the public school system to practice some of the same things that charter schools practice. One of those things is have administration regulate and critic teachers in their class room setting, to make sure they are satisfying the performance part of the position. (this form of regulating employees also derives from a company/business structure). I do see that over seeing teachers can take away their security and dehumanize them to an extent, but that does not mean changes should not be implemented into the public system. After reading half of the Class Warfare book, I have come to realize that I think education reform is necessary but I don;t agree with the reform plans on either side of this topic. I think that true educational growth has to be supported by a holistic environment. This means that student’s well-being, teacher performance and motivation, and the resources that a school can supply for their workers all need to be taken into consideration.
Comments
3 responses to “Education with Business in Mind”
These are some interesting points. I agree that thinking holistically is essential. If you look too closely at any one part of the public education picture you might develop plans that don’t really address the interconnected nature of the problems we face.
Low student achievement isn’t just about poor teaching, it is also about the quality of students’ lives outside of the classroom. To disconnect these two elements leads to solutions that don’t really fix the underlying problems. What is behind the desire to separate these issues so completely? One answer is that addressing an issue like poverty is simply too difficult or too expensive. Another is that the solutions being put forward in the name of improved education for the most needy, are actually most beneficial to most privileged. This is a claim we will explore more as the course continues.
While I agree with much of what you said I do not think that teacher accountability is in any way going to help the schools that need it most. The schools that are failing are failing for a number of reasons but Brill would make you think the majority of blame falls on the teachers. Another problem with holding teachers accountable for their student’s success more strictly is this could discourage others from the profession. Once holding these teachers accountable who is to say most of them wont quit. I for see a large drop in the teaching professionals if a stricter rule for teacher performance is made. But then again are we at a point where we need to flush out all the old thinking teachers who truly believe their students cant do well. Then you may have the solution and the system may have to start a new but who knows what that would look like.
Hello there, You have done a fantastic job. I’ll certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this website.