Irrespective of party, politicians often target and malign education — as author Erika Christakis very capably makes clear — making hay of education’s perceived failings. But, this negative rhetoric ignores what we know to be true: the American public education system, despite some anecdotal problems, despite struggling with mixed financial investments, despite being the frequent target of opportunistic and misinformed politicians, does provide an overall positive benefit to school children and families. And further, educators are not satisfied, educators are not done with attempting to improve.
Japan Recognizes The Value of Educational Investments in Poor and Rich Neighborhoods Alike
“In Japan, you may have poor areas, but you don’t have poor schools”
The differences between Japanese and American investments in education, and what socioeconomic factors mean for student achievement in the two countries is explored in this Atlantic article by Alana Semuels.
In Japan there are fewer administrators, yet higher teacher pay and higher barriers to entering the profession. Teachers and students contribute to cleaning the school buildings, which also, in turn, contributes to lower per-pupil costs. Importantly, faculty collaboration and peer review of lesson plans is what drives classroom instruction, coupled with a risk-inclined environment.
Education’s Taxing Problem
Michigan’s Proposal A shifted the burden of school funding from property taxes to sales tax, with the goal of reducing the funding inequities between disparate school districts. Now, despite the school funding shift, inequities remain and questions remain regarding adequacy: what is an appropriate level of funding, and how do policy makers budget for it? This article on Pennsylvania school funding has implications for all states, as legislators grapple with how to pay for education:
In short, every state is wrestling with the issue of educational funding inequity.
Because we know that education funding systems relying on property taxes are inherently unfair, that zip codes and property values are wildly uneven across states, regions, and even municipalities, Michigan’s system needs to overcome inequities while providing adequacy.
Try This One Trick To Improve Student Outcomes
Despite the popular yet unsophisticated opinion, we know that it isn’t always about personnel. NPR’s Anya Kamenetz interviews The Century Foundation‘s Richard Kahlenberg on some of the research-based factors educators know increase student achievement: integration.
Education Policy Fights Don’t Focus Enough on Teaching and Learning
Along with other federal departments under the new administration, the U.S. Department of Education has been staffed not by a policy or practice expert, but by an ideologue. And related to what is known about the new Secretary of Education is her advocacy for school choice in the form of vouchers, despite what the most recent research reveals about their ineffectiveness as a school improvement model. But, as this article well demonstrates, governmental education reform efforts are rarely about improving instructional practice, and instead about the more politically-oriented governance. Too often, legislative school reform omits those most informed, and those most affected: the practitioners and students.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »