AN EDUCATION GOV? Spitzer and School Reform
Spitzer has indicated that one of his top priorities is reaching a settlement of the long lingering Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, which concluded that New York City's schools are underfunded. Spitzer should propose a grand bargain in which he agrees to provide whatever funds are needed in New York City and statewide - but stipulate that the billions in new funds will only go to schools that have the features of successful schools and over time a documented record of producing significant student gains.
Simply put, New York state has to stop pussyfooting around and decide, once and for all, that it will no longer put another dime into poorly designed schools.
District schools also labor under suffocating work rules, a management structure that grants principals too little power to actually lead their schools and union contracts that run hundreds of pages and restrict who can do what, when and where. The most important power of a school leader - the ability to assemble a quality faculty and weed out inferior teachers - is largely hamstrung.
The wonder is not that many students don't learn, it's that any do. The system is designed for the benefit and convenience of adults, not the success of children.
In the midst of this failure, hundreds of alternative schools, magnet schools and public charter schools have opened - and succeeded. The best of these schools work, all the while being public, because they look nothing like regular district schools.
AN EDUCATION GOV?
SPITZER & SCHOOL REFORM
By THOMAS W. CARROLL
November 20, 2006 -- IN the wake of his impressive landslide victory, Eliot Spitzer has an opportunity to push through sweeping reforms to ensure every child in the state receives a quality education.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 2:05 PM
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