You Call This a Solution...or an Invitation to Talk?

There is no reason to list the litany of problems with ACPS.  With the exception of the few willfully ignorant, the impediments to delivering quality instruction in this city are legend.  Heck, even the superintendent (the source of many of the obstacles) sees that something must be done about a school system in desperate need of repair.  It's just that there is a very real difference between how Sherman, on the one hand, and teachers on the other respond to the instant crisis.  Sherman, acts as an opportunist, embodying the carpetbagger approach, a chance to make the bucks, reward cronies and promote himself.  The true stakeholders, those who have lived and taught in Alexandria, whose children sit in the classrooms want to roll up our sleeves and rebuild--to do the heavy lifting.  We are not afraid to detail the fraud and waste even as some of the more pollyannish among us carp, "Stop complaining, be happy with what you're being given!"  Oh, that it were that easy. This admonition to either get on board with the ludicrously inexpensive and wasteful initiatives being proffered or seek employment elsewhere is a false choice.  Missing from the logic of those who espouse a simplistic approach to what ails ACPS is the need to clear one's mind of the failed practices of the past three years.  Don't tether your thinking to Habits of Minds and Skillful Teacher.  Don't be afraid to view the current curricular crap as anything but that.  Anyone endorsing a solution that tolerates no criticism of the status quo and who discerns no flaw with throwing expensive, crony-pitched, repackaged drivel at difficult, entrenched, and ever evolving challenges is either ignorant or misguided.

Something new, something far more creative and flexible must be brought to the discussion.  Any viable proposal must make use of the great pool of talent that is the bulk of the ACPS teachers.  We must not be afraid to follow the money when asking what others' motivations are as they come forward with 'snake oil' packaged as answers.  And so, the criteria that embody this 'follow the money' philosophy would not need a CEO/Superintendent making in excess of $250,000, nor an executive staff that devours precious dollars.  A real attempt to address our needs will not be comprised of consultant's and their high-priced gimmickry.  A sincere desire to close learning gaps and ensure that all who can succeed--will, asks stakeholders (those who stand to gain nothing monetarily) to give of their time and expertise to develop schools that deliver quality instruction.

For those seriously interested in such an approach, I point you to two articles.  These are, for brevity's sake just snapshots of what the full articles outline. The first, "Does a district need a superintendent?" looks at a school district's decision to overhaul the typical command and control structure.  http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2011/02/07/13155-does-a-district-need-a-superintendent

Does a district need a superintendent?

Written by Robert Gelchion and Nancy Mitchell on Feb 7th, 2011. | Copyright © EdNewsColorado.org

Third-graders at Evans Elementary in the Falcon 49 School District studied in class last week.

A school district east of Colorado Springs is poised to test the reaches of the state’s Innovation Schools Act, which allows waivers from state laws and collective bargaining agreements.

School board members in the Falcon 49 School District are buying out the contracts of their top four district administrators – including the superintendent, a job that would be eliminated – as they scrap a traditional governance structure for something completely different.

The second article, by Valerie Strauss, reinforces the first and can be somewhat summed up by the following excerpt:

There’s so much wrong with traditional schooling it’s tempting to say it’s beyond salvaging. Its very system of organization—based as it is on 19th Century Prussian military theory—is upside down. Those who know the most about the system—kids and teachers—have the least power to change it. Its continued use of a rigid, standardized curriculum designed to produce compliant workers for a system of industrial production that America will never see again, assures irrelevance. Its failure to put in place multi-year, manageable-sized groups of learners guided by small instructional teams, builds in instability and lack of continuity.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/a-salvage-operation-for-public.html

 So it's not, as some allege, that we rank and file educators lack the vision or insight to correct what is wrong in our schools.  The agonizing reality is that, just as government is influenced (even controlled) by lobbyists and corporations are misled by obscenely compensated CEO's, so too is our school system.  The difference being, teachers can't vote out of office those being lobbied nor remove the CEO.  

Again, the answers to our questions are there.  If not in full, then at least the information to find answers is there.  The will to apply the answers to our questions and needs lies in every dedicated teacher and parent.  You will not find the answer in the almighty dollar.

"All styles are good except the tiresome kind."
— Voltaire