Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Are We There Yet? How long have we been reforming schools now?

How long have we been talking about "education reform" in this country? If you don't know the answer, just go and read Diane Ravitch's The Troubled Crusade. It's been going on for over a hundred years.

The result? We're still talking about it.

Our prediction: as long as there are public schools, there will be constant talk of education reform and no appreciable change. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't all designed that way. They make changes--whether they involve changing the school calendar, or being in new "education technology," or trendy education techniques--only so it will looks like they are actually doing something and serious about making progress, when, in reality, nothing beneficial is actually happening.

We are now officially opposed to any further educational reform. It's a money pit. Stop wasting money on it. The only ideas even worth trying are things like school choice and (to a lesser extent) charter schools--things that wrest control of education from public education bureaucrats.

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