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Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Kids Who Didn’t Pass
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A blog participant wrote on an earlier thread about the CRCT: “Maybe we need to see ‘A Day in the Life’ of a few of these failing kids.”
I would like to do just that. If you have a child who didn’t pass in grades 3, 5 or 8, please contact me at pghezzi@ajc.com. I am interested in all types of children, the ones who prepared and still did not pass as well as the ones who think the teacher did not cover all the material. Special education and regular education. Suburbs and city. I’ve already identified two, but I need more. Pass the word on if you know somebody who might be willing to participate. When writing for our print newspaper, I must use first and last names.
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Is School Reform Overblown?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So after Intel Chairman Craig Barrett gives a speech about how important it is to do a better job teaching kids math and science, and a guy named William Schmidt of Michigan State preaches a sermon on how way bad the math and science crisis is in our schools, a guy named Richard Rothstein gets up and says: ” I don’t agree with that…”
Rothstein is a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute and he’s written columns for various publications and written books galore with long titles that don’t exactly make me want to rush out and buy them. (…”Class and Schools: Using Social, Econonmic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap”…)
He says education reform is not the cure for society’s ills as it is often billed as being. He says a more important reform is raising real wages for those who work in the service sector and other jobs that employ the masses. Because while math and science fields may be growing at a faster rate, they have a smaller base. They employ fewer people. So if we all the sudden produced a bunch of math and science whizzes, that would not change the reality that our society needs maids to clean hotel rooms. Improving education does not change the wages those workers earn. He added that wages for scientists have remained stagnant in recent years. He used Department of Labor data for his analysis.
Of course, the big question is who should decide whether a kid grows up to clean hotel rooms or work as a scientist? All kids should have the opportunity to pursue a lucrative field. But Rothstein challenges the idea that providing all kids with high doses of math and science instruction will alleviate poverty and other social problems.
Are you feeling this arguement?
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