OP-ED | Education and Politics a Toxic Mix
by Susan Bigelow | Jan 13, 2012 12:07pm
(6) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Opinion
A member of the Enfield Board of Education is apparently crying foul over recent proposed changes to the curriculum, according to an article published in Thursday’s Journal-Inquirer. Republican Kevin Fealy was, ironically, concerned that the curriculum is promoting a specific political agenda. At issue? The schools apparently aren’t doing a good enough job presenting “both parts of the argument” about climate change, which Fealy claims isn’t settled science.
In other news, it’s been in the 50s this first week of January, following a year in which we’ve had freak October ice storms, hurricanes and record-setting, roof-creaking snowfall. What do I know, though? I’m not a scientist. Neither is Kevin Fealy, of course; he’s a Board of Education member. Which is probably just as good.
Hilariously, the other thing Fealy’s getting bent out of shape about is changes to the philosophy curriculum. Fealy wanted a list of philosophers being taught, just in case Che Guevara was making it into the schools somehow. Really. Apparently the “other point of view” is good for some classes, but not for others.
To their credit, the rest of the board seems to have rolled their eyes and ignored Fealy, passing the curriculum changes with Fealy as the lone dissenting vote. Enfield has its moments, but we aren’t about to follow Texas down the rabbit hole. I mean, this is Connecticut. There wouldn’t be a push by parents to put stickers explaining that evolution is “just a theory” on science textbooks, or pressure on teachers from on high to teach abstinence-only sex-ed in this state, right?
Sure there would. It happens all the time. Just ask any teacher about how the moral, social and political views of parents, administrators and town officials collides with what teachers want to present in their classrooms. You’ll get more stories than you can count, from book challenges to the constant meddling with standardized tests.
The classroom is an oddly public space. Everyone has a stake in how and what children are taught, and so everyone from the governor and state officials on down to individual taxpayers claims the right to tell teachers what to teach, how they manage their classrooms and how to assess their students. On the one hand, this can be a great thing. Society should have an interest in education, and community conversations about teaching and learning can be enlightening and beneficial. Of course, in this country these sorts of conversations can easily become shouting matches or blame-fests, with teachers caught right in the line of fire. Think about the conversations we’ve been having about education lately: reform tenure to get rid of the dead weight, fix failing schools by firing underperforming teachers, cut teacher pay to balance budgets, instruct teachers to prepare students better for standardized tests, make sure teachers aren’t indoctrinating their students with politics we don’t like, and on and on.
What’s underlying a lot of this political scapegoating seems to be that society at large doesn’t seem to trust teachers not to ruin our children’s education and steal from taxpayers while doing it. Kevin Fealy clearly doesn’t. He wants to review lists of philosophers because teachers might sneak one past him, and his kid will come home with awkward questions about who owns the means of production. But the state doesn’t really seem to trust teachers, either. They’re still wedded to the idea of standardized testing as a way of assessing students, for example, even though you’d be hard-pressed to find many teachers who think CAPT or Mastery Tests measure student learning fairly or accurately. All of this makes teachers an easy target for anyone with an agenda wanting to score political points on education, but it doesn’t do much to fix the problems the schools have.
I’m looking forward to more discussion this year on reforming Connecticut’s schools. Test scores aside, there is a huge gap between rich and poor districts in this state, and there’s a lot to be debated about how our schools are preparing our children for 21st century life. What I’m hoping we don’t see, though, is a lot of political posturing and teacher-bashing in the pursuit of narrow agendas.
Susan Bigelow is the former owner/author of CTLocalPolitics.com. She lives in Enfield with her wife and cats.
Tags: education, teachers, politics, Enfield, Susan Bigelow
(6) Comments
posted by: lkulmann | January 14, 2012 3:59pm
It would be so nice if people could just do the jobs that they were trained to do, but maybe I’m being a little naive and old fashioned. In the olden days, the managers used to know the jobs of those they managed this way they could make decisions within their field of expertise. If they were unsure of a situation, they could ask a supervisor to consult or troubleshoot to solve the problem, make a decision based on facts, of course, then move on…if it were some type of issue that’s never come up, then upper management could figure it out and make new policy and so on. Nice and smooth. Teachers should be allowed to teach. Its really that simple. That is their expertise. Teachers are the experts at teaching. Simple. They need to manage their students and their paraprofessionals confidently and competently so they can do their job. Managers manage teachers and administrators make sure its all working properly by keeping policy and continuing education current, fresh and new. When my son goes to school, I know that his school is working properly and with consistency. I can see the results in my child’s educational and behavioral development. Teachers are pretty smart actually. They know what kids are being taught at home indirectly through a childs behaviors and/or conversations in the classroom. When I have educational questions or concerns about my son, I go directly to his teacher for answers and vice versa. When parents feel the need to go to the mayors office or the governors office or the State and Federal Departments of Education for answers to their kids education, there is something very, very wrong within the local system. Yes, some people are out of control and go a little too far, but the majority of our educational issues should be resolved before they escalate. If parents felt the schools were in control, then the majority of parents and the community wouldn’t have much to complain about. Guess they don’t.
posted by: Reasonable | January 14, 2012 9:26pm
Ikulmann: “You sound like you are from the old school!”
Things have changed a lot!
posted by: Fisherman | January 15, 2012 9:50am
Susan, you are correct when you state:
” I’m not a scientist”
You also must have a pretty short memory. Last year, the rest of us couldn’t get to our doorstep; what with the 42 inches of snow.
One year, one data point, does not constitute “science”. Please find yourself a new career.
posted by: Noteworthy | January 15, 2012 10:32am
You may not want to admit it, but there are things taught in our classrooms that steer kids to a particular conclusion. For one, climate change is not settled science as you so seemingly want to embrace. It ought to be discussed along with any number of other developments - but it ought to be presented as subject matter that is still open to study and further conclusions.
I have a problem with teachers who tell my impressionable children particular points of view. They ought not be taught a point of view, an opinion, they ought to be taught critical thinking, analysis and self thought and be able to defend it and articulate that. In fact, they are not. They’re being taught tests not grammar.
Moreover, and more to your point about politics and education, you seem quite happy for Democrats to posture and preen over “education reform” and use it to run campaigns on while denigrating those in the GOP who may be doing the same thing. Frankly, I find all the politricking on education to be disgusting and dishonest. From Malloy claiming this will be the year of education, to ConnCan and Achievement First looking to profit from it; to all the mayors like DeStefano who want to confer the mantle of educational reformer on themselves, while using education spending to reward friends, neighbors and family. We spend more money educating our children than just about anybody in the entire country - and the results of all that spending are pitiful, pathetic and puny.
What we need are real reformers not retreads in charge of education, ECS funding and curriculum.
The education industry in CT is filled with hangers on, retirees, profiteers and those with agendas other than really educating our children.
Until we get real reformers, we’ll be stuck with peacocks and pretenders.
posted by: Reasonable | January 15, 2012 9:11pm
Noteworthy: Tell it like it is! Our mandated, annual teachers union raises reward the good and bad teachers alike, and force our local and state governments to raise taxation—which gives us increased taxation—without representation—- as our grubby unions corrupt our education system.
