Education Law

Excuses in the city

New York City Schools Chancellor has written an interesting piece in U.S. News and World Report about his views on education in urban school systems, and how to fix them.  To summarize, his viewpoint is, “stop making excuses.”

Essentially, BoardBuzz agrees with what Mr. Klein has to say.  We need to raise expectations of everyone in the education system, and not settle for the status quo.  It’s a simple thing to say, but we’re not sure the solution is so simple.  Klein talks about poverty being at the heart of the issue, but disagrees with the conventional wisdom that urban education issues cannot be fixed until America fixes the poverty issue.  He says, “The truth is that America will never fix poverty until it fixes its urban schools.”  We all want the same result, better schools in America’s largest districts.  But oversimplification of the issues facing these districts and the communities they serve is a disservice to everyone involved. 

We’re not continuing to make excuses, we’re simply trying to point out that a ‘one size fits all’ approach, whether its charter schools, vouchers, or “regular” urban public schools that are working (yes, there are quite a few) isn’t the answer.  What works in one city may not work at all in another and school leaders need to examine what will work best for their community.  And who knows what works best for their own community than the parents, the teachers, the administrators, and the school board leaders?  So yes, raise expectations, raise the stakes, lift up those who succeed, especially successful teachers, and stop making excuses.  But make sure the approach you take is reflective and valued by the community you serve.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).