Kids Can't Stop and Wait for Reform

The U.S. Department of Education recently introduced the Innovation Web Portal. This national online forum was created so that any education stakeholder -- parent, teacher, administrator, taxpayer -- can share ideas on reforming our education system. Arne Duncan calls it a "national marketplace of ideas."

I know we’re supposed to be excited by this innovative, forward-thinking, techy approach to education reform. But frankly, if one more person asks me how to help reform education, I’m going to scream.

My confidence level in reforming education has dropped significantly in the eight years we’ve had our children in the public school system. Even Diane Ravitch, the education scholar who once served in the Bush administration and supported No Child Left Behind, is rethinking reform and admits " ... that these strategies, which she now calls faddish trends, were undermining public education."

Simple ideas that might actually help K-12 education have been tossed around for years. Longer school days and year-round classes. Use current technology to assist in teaching and learning. Fire teachers who can’t teach and administrators who can’t manage. Carve out consistent and reliable classroom funding from state and federal budgets.

But change in education moves at a snail’s pace. This is why children and families suffer. Kids can’t make up for a year stuck in a classroom with forty students. They don't progress reading outdated textbooks while administrators spend budget cycles pondering the benefits of digitized resources. One bad teacher can steal months or even years of precious learning time.

In the blink of an eye, my oldest will be headed to high school. She was in kindergarten when NCLB was signed into law. Do we really need to spend more time collecting ideas?

Enough discussion. Just do it.

Photo credit: Orange42