The Myths of Education Nation

Check out this blogger (Stager-to-go) on Education Nation and Waiting for Superman--I couldnt' have said this better myself.  There are LOTS of troubling assumptions underlying both efforts and they should be brought to light and discussed.  The blogger lists the "myths" that make this story work and then critiques them.  This are tricky issues and nobody thinks that education doesn't need some new ideas but I too am always nervous when someone (and a lot of big money backers) claims a crisis.

Myths of Education Nation:

1. Public education is destroying America
2. There is a sudden emergency of bad teachers sweeping the land
3. Schools should be run more like businesses (Education Nation’s patron Eli Broad believes this, but should we listen to a man who served on the board of AIG?)
4. Charter schools, merit pay, standardized testing and mayoral control are the magic beans that will save children from wretched teachers
5. When we fire all of the zillions of bad teachers a whole new crop of fantastic ones will grow in a Washington D.C. cornfield
6. The best and brightest will eagerly become teachers when we remove all teacher autonomy and reduce teaching to test prep and script reading
7. Unqualified is the new qualified as exemplified by Teach for America’s zeal to create unqualified missionaries to replace teachers
8. Getting tougher is the same as reform
9. Michelle Rhee was victimized by enemies of school reform (teachers) when voters rejected her tactics and bankrupt educational vision (thanks Nora O’Donnell)
10. Billionaires are smart!
11. Racism and intergenerational poverty have nothing to do with academic achievement
12. The purpose of education is job readiness
13. Teacher layoffs, budget cuts and union busting are just three ways of saying “We should pay teachers more, but hold them accountable.”
14. Poor children need educational experiences much different from those afforded the children of the powerful
15. We should all run out to the cineplex and see Waiting for Superman

As these narratives come to your community, we should be thinking together about these assumptions, what research (if any) supports these claims, and...as the blogger says "follow the money!"<>