John Kuhn on Education Funding in Texas: There is a Hole in the Bucket
"There's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza."
At the root of the school reform debate as I see it is a fundamental disagreement about causality. No one disagrees that by any number of measures (PISA scores, graduation rates, etc.) the academic outcomes of some American students are horrendously unacceptable. On this point, even Michelle Rhee and Diane Ravitch are in perfect agreement, along with everyone else who thinks even a little bit about education.
But then the wheels come off.
When you ask the question, "What caused this?" the wheels come off.
When you ask the question, "How do we fix it?" the wheels come off.
We are all friends until we're not. And when those questions come up, we go to our respective corners and we prepare to fight for what we see as the best way forward. This is great. This is the messiness of democracy. I'm thrilled to be wearing these gloves. (I don't pretend to be impartial.)
You discover many battle lines when you survey this field of contest. Charter schools force traditional schools to get with the program vs. charter schools skim kids in order to look better. Vouchers encourage competition vs. vouchers haven't worked in Milwaukee. Merit pay encourages excellent teachers vs. merit pay destroys morale. And on and on.
more . . . http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/01/john_kuhn_on_education_funding.html