March Snowball |
Main
| A Thousand A Day
March 19, 2004
Wrong Turn
Bob Herbert eloquently explains why Bloomberg's decisions are immature, overly political, and a wrong turn for ed reform:
Listen up: It is not a good idea to allow children who are not learning to simply walk out of one grade and into another without any kind of intervention. But the question of what to do about youngsters who are not learning is enormously complex. And the answers won't be found in the politically charged impulse to hold back third graders on the basis of a test score, or by publicly humiliating thoughtful individuals who are serious about trying to help children....
It's still an exercise in futility, however, and a lousy approach to school reform. Anybody can hold a kid back. The tough part is teaching the kid to read. There are many programs and policies that have proved over several years to be effective in educating big-city children. A fair question to ask is why Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Klein, given such an array of choices, have so stubbornly thrown their weight behind a policy that has failed again and again and again.
[Bob Herbert, NYTimes; March 19, 2004]
Read the whole article; he makes several more good points.
I recieved several emails after a Tuesday debate on Bloomberg's decision asking me how I could say that Bloomberg wasn't doing the right thing, and citing that at least he had the balls to make a change to a dysfunctional, failing system.
The bottom line, however, is that simply "making a change" is not enough. It doesn't get at the heart of the problem, which is educating children. As Herbert notes, you can leave as many kids back as you want. If you don't change how they're being educated, you're just throwing them back in the environment that failed them the year before.
Posted by callalillie at March 19, 2004 6:46 AM | Education
yeah, i noticed that people love to defend bad decisions simply because they are a decision of some kind. i guess it makes people feel better when complex issues can be boiled down to a simple notion; it makes us feel less overwhelmed even if it's not accurate or helpful. this is why fasicm works.
that said, bloomy can do whatever he wants if he can make it stop snowing.
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at March 19, 2004 9:52 AM
Maybe he should fire mother nature...
Posted by: corie at March 19, 2004 9:55 AM
