All Teachers Fired at Underperforming School in Rhode Island

[bodecea]

Have you heard the expression: "Sometimes Less is More?"

You're exposition is fairly basic: Education in the USA has never been anything but what you'd call "progressive," having been influanced since 1920, and only being in compulsory existance in the states since 1918.

The simple fallacy of this arguement is that you cannot characterise "Education in the USA," regardless of how much Ann Coulter would like to lable it as such for the past 90 years. The only nationally applied standards have been effective since the passage of NCLB. The OP is a result of these standards: The Schools were underperforming based on NCLB instituted measurements; The board chose to remedy the situation with more instructional time (longer schooldays/more schooldays).

The board did NOT choose to pay for this additional time, so the teachers (unionized) refused to work for free, as would any sane group of Americans. They were subsequently fired.

Who will replace them? Better Teachers?

Even Ms Coulter cannot believe that better quality/quantity teaching is had when individuals chose to teach more for less.

Perhaps Ms. Coulter can get a job teaching there.

Unclear why you and the hirsute one have brought up Queen Ann, but as you wish:

Ann Coulter on Education :: Accuracy In Academia
When Ann Coulter’s most recent book, Godless,

1. In chapter 6: The Liberal Priesthood: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Teacher, Coulter takes on teacher indoctrination, pay, qualifications, and crime. She cites Jay Bennish, the high school teacher caught on tape comparing Bush to Hitler and saying the U.S. is the “single most violent nation on planet Earth,” as evidence. She also lists a number of schools busy banning Christian faith references, while forcing students to participate in activities of other faiths.

2. Coulter tackles the failure of government schools…Coulter uses information from David Salisbury of the Center for Education Freedom at CATO Institute to illustrate the failure of public education. “Throughout the twentieth century, the scores of preschool age children on IQ and kindergarten readiness tests have climbed steadily upward….It’s not until they move up through grade school and on to high school that their performance declines,” said Salisbury.

Also according to Salisbury, American students do better than many other countries in international comparisons of reading, math and science during fourth grade international tests ranking 92nd percentile in science, 70th in reading and 58th in math. But by eighth grade, Americans are average, and by “twelfth—having received all the benefits of an American education—they are near the bottom.”

“Question,” Coulter writes, “Is student achievement inversely proportional to time spent in U.S. public schools, or is there a correlation between poor student achievement and time spent in U.S. public schools?” “Remember how factories in the old Soviet Union stayed open year after year even though half the products they turned out were defective? U.S. public schools have become like that, which is why Democrats feel so much at home in the education business,” writes Coulter.

3. Then she attacked the central mantra of teachers—We are underpaid. Providing information from Richard Vedder of Ohio University who examined U.S. Department of Labor data, she writes that “Weekly pay for teachers in 2001 was about the same (within 10 percent) as for accountants, biological and life scientists, registered nurses, and editors and reporters, while teachers earned significantly more than social workers and artists.” In fact, the only group with higher weekly pay [of seven professions examined] were lawyers and judges.

But, Coulter argues, teachers also get summer vacations, professional days off, snow days and federal holidays off, concluding, “it appears that the only people who get better compensation than teachers for nine months’ work are professional baseball players.”
Vedder also calculated hourly wages, based on self-reported data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In this case, “Teachers earned more per hour than architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, statisticians, biological and life scientists, atmospheric and space scientists, registered nurses, physical therapists, university-level foreign-language teachers, librarians, technical writers, musicians, artists, and editors and reporters.”

Adding another element to her argument, Coulter explains that teachers also get “more generous pensions that other professional workers,” have health insurance plans many of which require no contributing payment by the teachers, and have “absolute job security.”

4. …if Coulter is correct, they are also likely to be poorly qualified. Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute is quoted, saying “Undergraduate education majors typically have lower SAT and ACT scores than other students.” “The lower the quality of the undergraduate institution a person attends, the more likely he or she is to wind up in the teaching profession,” he notes.

Coulter writes that in 2001, only 60 percent of education students could pass the basic teacher licensing exam in Virginia. How did Virginia respond? The state board of education lowered the requirements, Coulter writes.

According to Coulter, Massachusetts lowered the passing grade for a basic-skills test for teachers in 1998 when nearly two-thirds failed it.

5. It would also seem that not only are teachers overpaid and unqualified, in many instances, many are criminals.

“In addition to grand theft, disorderly conduct, weapons charges, and attempted murder, there were also 180 claims of sexual abuse by New York City public school teachers in 2005—all before May,” writes Coulter. She writes that professor Charol Shakeshaft analyzed data from an American Association of University Women Education Foundation survey and “estimates that between 1991-2000, roughtly 290,000 students were subjected to physical sexual abuse by teachers or other school personnel.”
While all of this seems bleak, Coulter does offer some solutions. Concluding the chapter, she writes, “There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more competition couldn’t cure.” At a recent appearance in Washington, D.C. she also encouraged conservative women to enter four career fields if they really want to impact the world. Public education was one of the four.

In a way I agree with coulter that standards for teachers should not be lowered. If they cannot get enough qualified people to apply they should not lower the standards. They can do without teachers....if qualified people choose to work in other professions.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Perhaps Ms. Coulter can get a job teaching there.

Unclear why you and the hirsute one have brought up Queen Ann, but as you wish:

Ann Coulter on Education :: Accuracy In Academia
When Ann Coulter’s most recent book, Godless,

1. In chapter 6: The Liberal Priesthood: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Teacher, Coulter takes on teacher indoctrination, pay, qualifications, and crime. She cites Jay Bennish, the high school teacher caught on tape comparing Bush to Hitler and saying the U.S. is the “single most violent nation on planet Earth,” as evidence. She also lists a number of schools busy banning Christian faith references, while forcing students to participate in activities of other faiths.

2. Coulter tackles the failure of government schools…Coulter uses information from David Salisbury of the Center for Education Freedom at CATO Institute to illustrate the failure of public education. “Throughout the twentieth century, the scores of preschool age children on IQ and kindergarten readiness tests have climbed steadily upward….It’s not until they move up through grade school and on to high school that their performance declines,” said Salisbury.

Also according to Salisbury, American students do better than many other countries in international comparisons of reading, math and science during fourth grade international tests ranking 92nd percentile in science, 70th in reading and 58th in math. But by eighth grade, Americans are average, and by “twelfth—having received all the benefits of an American education—they are near the bottom.”

“Question,” Coulter writes, “Is student achievement inversely proportional to time spent in U.S. public schools, or is there a correlation between poor student achievement and time spent in U.S. public schools?” “Remember how factories in the old Soviet Union stayed open year after year even though half the products they turned out were defective? U.S. public schools have become like that, which is why Democrats feel so much at home in the education business,” writes Coulter.

3. Then she attacked the central mantra of teachers—We are underpaid. Providing information from Richard Vedder of Ohio University who examined U.S. Department of Labor data, she writes that “Weekly pay for teachers in 2001 was about the same (within 10 percent) as for accountants, biological and life scientists, registered nurses, and editors and reporters, while teachers earned significantly more than social workers and artists.” In fact, the only group with higher weekly pay [of seven professions examined] were lawyers and judges.

But, Coulter argues, teachers also get summer vacations, professional days off, snow days and federal holidays off, concluding, “it appears that the only people who get better compensation than teachers for nine months’ work are professional baseball players.”
Vedder also calculated hourly wages, based on self-reported data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In this case, “Teachers earned more per hour than architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, statisticians, biological and life scientists, atmospheric and space scientists, registered nurses, physical therapists, university-level foreign-language teachers, librarians, technical writers, musicians, artists, and editors and reporters.”

Adding another element to her argument, Coulter explains that teachers also get “more generous pensions that other professional workers,” have health insurance plans many of which require no contributing payment by the teachers, and have “absolute job security.”

4. …if Coulter is correct, they are also likely to be poorly qualified. Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute is quoted, saying “Undergraduate education majors typically have lower SAT and ACT scores than other students.” “The lower the quality of the undergraduate institution a person attends, the more likely he or she is to wind up in the teaching profession,” he notes.

Coulter writes that in 2001, only 60 percent of education students could pass the basic teacher licensing exam in Virginia. How did Virginia respond? The state board of education lowered the requirements, Coulter writes.

According to Coulter, Massachusetts lowered the passing grade for a basic-skills test for teachers in 1998 when nearly two-thirds failed it.

5. It would also seem that not only are teachers overpaid and unqualified, in many instances, many are criminals.

“In addition to grand theft, disorderly conduct, weapons charges, and attempted murder, there were also 180 claims of sexual abuse by New York City public school teachers in 2005—all before May,” writes Coulter. She writes that professor Charol Shakeshaft analyzed data from an American Association of University Women Education Foundation survey and “estimates that between 1991-2000, roughtly 290,000 students were subjected to physical sexual abuse by teachers or other school personnel.”
While all of this seems bleak, Coulter does offer some solutions. Concluding the chapter, she writes, “There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more competition couldn’t cure.” At a recent appearance in Washington, D.C. she also encouraged conservative women to enter four career fields if they really want to impact the world. Public education was one of the four.

In a way I agree with coulter that standards for teachers should not be lowered. If they cannot get enough qualified people to apply they should not lower the standards. They can do without teachers....if qualified people choose to work in other professions.

And, at the risk of being redundant, I give the teachers a small part of the blame. As long as they are not the ones guilty of criminal behavior or indoctrination (as in "Barak Hussein Obama, mmm-mmmm-mmm).

Society must do a better job of educating, and make the education have value.

I know a science teacher who says "a degree in marine biology gets you a job at Red Lobster."

 

[Samson]

Coulter does offer some solutions. Concluding the chapter, she writes, “There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more competition couldn’t cure.” At a recent appearance in Washington, D.C. she also encouraged conservative women to enter four career fields if they really want to impact the world. Public education was one of the four.

Ah.

Yes, "impact the world" is for what all those teachers should be working.



I was under the impression Coulter was a Capitalist.

When did Coulter become a Socialist?

 

[Annie]

Coulter does offer some solutions. Concluding the chapter, she writes, “There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more competition couldn’t cure.” At a recent appearance in Washington, D.C. she also encouraged conservative women to enter four career fields if they really want to impact the world. Public education was one of the four.

Ah.

Yes, "impact the world" is for what all those teachers should be working.



I was under the impression Coulter was a Capitalist.

When did Coulter become a Socialist?

Many conservatives pick impact over money, it's about making individual decisions. Many choose careers where the money is light, but impact heavy-lots more life long missionaries are from conservative backgrounds.

One of the questions I've seen on many boards, why do conservatives vote against their own interests? Common good.

 

[csbarry]

At the end of 2008, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development placed the United States 18th among the 36 nations examined.

Headed to the top of the heap at that time was South Korea where 93 percent of high school students graduated on time compared with the United States where 75 percent receive their diplomas.

I support Education Commissioner Deborah A Gist's decision to fire the whole lot at the Central Falls High School in Rhode Island. I'm sure that those who are lucky enough to be recalled in the fall will do a fine job from that point in time on. I think I might have taken it one step further though and dumped the Central Falls Board of Education as well as managing operatives, i.e., the Superintendent and the like.

I truly believe they should continue with this policy throughout the United States.

Maybe we should model our schools on what South Korea does then:

Education in South Korea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To a very large degree, I believe we should.

 

[Samson]

Coulter does offer some solutions. Concluding the chapter, she writes, “There’s nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more competition couldn’t cure.” At a recent appearance in Washington, D.C. she also encouraged conservative women to enter four career fields if they really want to impact the world. Public education was one of the four.

Ah.

Yes, "impact the world" is for what all those teachers should be working.



I was under the impression Coulter was a Capitalist.

When did Coulter become a Socialist?

Many conservatives pick impact over money, it's about making individual decisions. Many choose careers where the money is light, but impact heavy-lots more life long missionaries are from conservative backgrounds.

One of the questions I've seen on many boards, why do conservatives vote against their own interests? Common good.

Many missionaries may be conservatives, but many conservatives (or people of any political leaning) are not missionaries.

"MANY conservatives pick impact over money?"

Well, I suppose if you consider many members of the military, then I'd agree.

Similarly, some teachers are in a form of "combat."

Perhaps there should be a Federally Funded Teacher's Corps: Complete with uniforms and side arms and free medical/dental care and "on campus room and board?"

 

[Samson]

Maybe we should model our schools on what South Korea does then:

Education in South Korea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To a very large degree, I believe we should.

This is why they are successful:

High school is not mandatory

 

[bodecea]

At the end of 2008, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development placed the United States 18th among the 36 nations examined.

Headed to the top of the heap at that time was South Korea where 93 percent of high school students graduated on time compared with the United States where 75 percent receive their diplomas.

I support Education Commissioner Deborah A Gist's decision to fire the whole lot at the Central Falls High School in Rhode Island. I'm sure that those who are lucky enough to be recalled in the fall will do a fine job from that point in time on. I think I might have taken it one step further though and dumped the Central Falls Board of Education as well as managing operatives, i.e., the Superintendent and the like.

I truly believe they should continue with this policy throughout the United States.

Maybe we should model our schools on what South Korea does then:

Education in South Korea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To a very large degree, I believe we should.

I like that school on Saturdays part...and competing thru testing for the best high schools.

 

[jeffrockit]

Are you saying kids are cars?

And I want to know if the administration of the school and the district are getting off scot free on this.

Where did I state that "kids are cars"? As I stated, it was an analogy and was directed at performance; and as I stated, that analogy will work for most jobs as performance should be a major factor. I do also hold the administration accountable for a 40% graduation rate and do wish them to get off "scot free" and also agree that the parents hold some responsibility too. Do you disagree the action taken and if so, why? Should you be allowed to perform at 40% on your job?

Are the students allowed to perform at 40% at their jobs?

(BTW, how do you keep kids in school who WISH to drop out? Force them?)

What a silly comment. The state govt (our tax dollars), pay teachers to perform a job....100% of the job. While I agree some students are unwilling to learn, I find it hard to believe that 60% don't want to.
I read no percentage of the drop out rate in that school but again I doubt it is 60%.

If you read my entire comment, I stated the parents hold responsibility too but the students are in the school 8 hours each day. I realize teaching is a tough job, (my wife teaches and daughter is in the teaching program), however, giving up because you teach in a touch area is not the answer. No one should have indicated to them that it would be easy when they took the job.

 

[bodecea]

Where did I state that "kids are cars"? As I stated, it was an analogy and was directed at performance; and as I stated, that analogy will work for most jobs as performance should be a major factor. I do also hold the administration accountable for a 40% graduation rate and do wish them to get off "scot free" and also agree that the parents hold some responsibility too. Do you disagree the action taken and if so, why? Should you be allowed to perform at 40% on your job?

Are the students allowed to perform at 40% at their jobs?

(BTW, how do you keep kids in school who WISH to drop out? Force them?)

What a silly comment. The state govt (our tax dollars), pay teachers to perform a job....100% of the job. While I agree some students are unwilling to learn, I find it hard to believe that 60% don't want to.
I read no percentage of the drop out rate in that school but again I doubt it is 60%.

If you read my entire comment, I stated the parents hold responsibility too but the students are in the school 8 hours each day. I realize teaching is a tough job, (my wife teaches and daughter is in the teaching program), however, giving up because you teach in a touch area is not the answer. No one should have indicated to them that it would be easy when they took the job.

Just fire them all...that is the best solution. Find someone else who is willing to take total blame for the failure of others. What a great idea.

 

[jeffrockit]

Are the students allowed to perform at 40% at their jobs?

(BTW, how do you keep kids in school who WISH to drop out? Force them?)

What a silly comment. The state govt (our tax dollars), pay teachers to perform a job....100% of the job. While I agree some students are unwilling to learn, I find it hard to believe that 60% don't want to.
I read no percentage of the drop out rate in that school but again I doubt it is 60%.

If you read my entire comment, I stated the parents hold responsibility too but the students are in the school 8 hours each day. I realize teaching is a tough job, (my wife teaches and daughter is in the teaching program), however, giving up because you teach in a touch area is not the answer. No one should have indicated to them that it would be easy when they took the job.

Just fire them all...that is the best solution. Find someone else who is willing to take total blame for the failure of others. What a great idea.

Another silly response. Again I never stated what you responded...that is your "great idea" not mine. Your reading comprehension is weak. Are you a former student that did not want to learn yet placed blame on everyone but yourself. If so that is a sad way to go through life.

I placed the fault on both parties but you just see what you want to see. I guess to you, no one holds any responsibility right?

 

[bodecea]

What a silly comment. The state govt (our tax dollars), pay teachers to perform a job....100% of the job. While I agree some students are unwilling to learn, I find it hard to believe that 60% don't want to.
I read no percentage of the drop out rate in that school but again I doubt it is 60%.

If you read my entire comment, I stated the parents hold responsibility too but the students are in the school 8 hours each day. I realize teaching is a tough job, (my wife teaches and daughter is in the teaching program), however, giving up because you teach in a touch area is not the answer. No one should have indicated to them that it would be easy when they took the job.

Just fire them all...that is the best solution. Find someone else who is willing to take total blame for the failure of others. What a great idea.

Another silly response. Again I never stated what you responded...that is your "great idea" not mine. Your reading comprehension is weak. Are you a former student that did not want to learn yet placed blame on everyone but yourself. If so that is a sad way to go through life.

I placed the fault on both parties but you just see what you want to see. I guess to you, no one holds any responsibility right?

I find it fascinating that you now want to make some kind of silly personal attack about my education. If you were a teacher, is this an example of how you would "motivate" your students to learn?


I say, and I mean, fire them all...if that seems to be the current trend. See where it gets them. Seriously.

 

[Samson]

Where did I state that "kids are cars"? As I stated, it was an analogy and was directed at performance; and as I stated, that analogy will work for most jobs as performance should be a major factor. I do also hold the administration accountable for a 40% graduation rate and do wish them to get off "scot free" and also agree that the parents hold some responsibility too. Do you disagree the action taken and if so, why? Should you be allowed to perform at 40% on your job?

Are the students allowed to perform at 40% at their jobs?

(BTW, how do you keep kids in school who WISH to drop out? Force them?)

What a silly comment. The state govt (our tax dollars), pay teachers to perform a job....100% of the job. While I agree some students are unwilling to learn, I find it hard to believe that 60% don't want to.

You haven't read the article in the OP (and, quite frankly, the title of the OP/article was designed to mislead you).

The teachers were not fired because they refused to work the extra hours mandated by NCLB for "underperforming schools."

The teachers were fired because they wouldn't work these extra hours for free.

Ann Coulter/Political Chick believe teachers, unlike any other profession, should work extra hours so they can "impact the world," not because they should receive compensation. This might seem at odds with all that is pure and capitalist, but it works for them as long as teachers are public servants, and the teachers in question are teaching the lower classes.

 

[Cold Fusion38]

You know what PISSES me off is that the teachers are making $70K PLUS yet the median income of the area is $22K!!!! Yet these teachers wanted to be paid MORE to help the students!!! In a way it is a VERY bad idea to replace teachers that the students have a report with but the ARROGANCE of these teachers is ASTOUNDING!!!

 

[Samson]

You know what PISSES me off is that the teachers are making $70K PLUS yet the median income of the area is $22K!!!! Yet these teachers wanted to be paid MORE to help the students!!! In a way it is a VERY bad idea to replace teachers that the students have a report with but the ARROGANCE of these teachers is ASTOUNDING!!!

Where the fuck do you get RI teacher's are making $70K plus?

Rhode Island teachers, who earn on average $54,730 annually.

And what does the "median income of the area" have anything to do with teacher pay?

The median family income for Central Falls is indeed only about half ($26,844) the average teacher pay in RI. Are you suggesting that if the teachers were paid something closer to $30K they'd do a better job?

 

[bodecea]

You know what PISSES me off is that the teachers are making $70K PLUS yet the median income of the area is $22K!!!! Yet these teachers wanted to be paid MORE to help the students!!! In a way it is a VERY bad idea to replace teachers that the students have a report with but the ARROGANCE of these teachers is ASTOUNDING!!!

Where the fuck do you get RI teacher's are making $70K plus?

Rhode Island teachers, who earn on average $54,730 annually.

And what does the "median income of the area" have anything to do with teacher pay?

The median family income for Central Falls is indeed only about half ($26,844) the average teacher pay in RI. Are you suggesting that if the teachers were paid something closer to $30K they'd do a better job?

Ask any other Profession that requires a minimum of 5 years of college how they like getting paid an average of $54K a year (average probably meaning with about 10-15 years seniority in district). For a HS grad, that's good pay....for a 5 year college professional (even a Masters which most states require) it is very low.

 

[Samson]

You know what PISSES me off is that the teachers are making $70K PLUS yet the median income of the area is $22K!!!! Yet these teachers wanted to be paid MORE to help the students!!! In a way it is a VERY bad idea to replace teachers that the students have a report with but the ARROGANCE of these teachers is ASTOUNDING!!!

Where the fuck do you get RI teacher's are making $70K plus?

Rhode Island teachers, who earn on average $54,730 annually.

And what does the "median income of the area" have anything to do with teacher pay?

The median family income for Central Falls is indeed only about half ($26,844) the average teacher pay in RI. Are you suggesting that if the teachers were paid something closer to $30K they'd do a better job?

Ask any other Profession that requires a minimum of 5 years of college how they like getting paid an average of $54K a year (average probably meaning with about 10-15 years seniority in district). For a HS grad, that's good pay....for a 5 year college professional (even a Masters which most states require) it is very low.

Well, RI median teacher salary is one of the highest in the nation.

But trying to justify teaching salary by the median family income of the neighborhood they work in is simply ridiculous. If anything, it makes sense that these should be the higher paid teachers.

In actuallity, I think we know that most of the Central Falls teachers have 0-5 years experience, and only took the job until a position opened in a school with fewer "challenging" students (poor, undisciplined).

 

[jeffrockit]

Just fire them all...that is the best solution. Find someone else who is willing to take total blame for the failure of others. What a great idea.

Another silly response. Again I never stated what you responded...that is your "great idea" not mine. Your reading comprehension is weak. Are you a former student that did not want to learn yet placed blame on everyone but yourself. If so that is a sad way to go through life.

I placed the fault on both parties but you just see what you want to see. I guess to you, no one holds any responsibility right?

I find it fascinating that you now want to make some kind of silly personal attack about my education. If you were a teacher, is this an example of how you would "motivate" your students to learn?


I say, and I mean, fire them all...if that seems to be the current trend. See where it gets them. Seriously.

You are right, it should not become personal. It was a wrong response to you misstating what I posted. I do, however completely disagree with you as you "seriously" suggest firing all teachers. Most are good at what they do but the bad ones need to go. I am done with this back and forth as neither opinion is going to change.

 

[chanel]

Update:

PROVIDENCE. R.I. — A district superintendent who fired all the teachers from one of the state's most troubled schools said Wednesday she's willing to negotiate with its teachers' union after it publicly pledged to support reforms.

Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo said an offer made late Tuesday by the Central Falls Teachers' Union gives her hope the issue could be resolved without mass firings. The offer includes support for a longer school day and providing before- and after-school tutoring for students.

The Central Falls school board voted last week to fire 93 teachers and staff from the city's high school after the end of the school year. No more than half the staff could be hired back under federal rules.

Gallo said she wanted the union to start participating in talks aimed at improving the school that also include other parties, such as parents. She said if the plans conflict with language in the teachers' contracts, the union and school officials could then negotiate.

Rhode Island Superintendent Calls for Talks, Not Firings - Department of Labor | Education | Homeland Security | Defense - FOXNews.com

Looks like some of us were right again.

 

[antagon]

Kudos to the Board.

Fire 'em all!

Hire 'em back one at a time as they prove themselves worthy of the job description...;teach our children what ever it is your were hired to teach...or get out of our way! Teaching should be performance based, not union protected, The teacher's union does more damage to our educational system than any other source.

Actually, there are two sources of the disaster that has replaced education in the United States.

Yes, the teachers unions are one, but their instigation was brought on by less than fair remuneration for the teachers prior to the 60's. In many ways teachers were forced into blue-color-unionization as a replacement for the respect and professionalization that they had before.

The real catastrophe took place when progressive education replaced the traditional.

1. Though the Progressive Education Association had shut its doors in 1955, arguments still seethed in the K-12 world between ‘progressives’ and ‘essentialists,’…. “Subject matter” had been in eclipse for so long in US education that its absence was no longer felt, save by a handful of critics. (E.D. Hirsch, Jr. “The Schools We Need And Why We don’t Have Them,” p. 50)

2. Next came “open education,” the antiauthoritarianism sweeping the campuses and finding a home with educators who already believed that students were better able than their teachers to determine what they needed to learn.

a. “The open education movement…took off in 1967 after publication of a series of articles by Joseph Featherstone in The New Republic, ….In the British primary schools, the routine of the day ‘is left completely up to the teacher, and the teacher, in turn, leaves options open to the children” [believing that] ‘in a rich environment young children can learn a great deal by themselves and that most often their own choices reflect their needs.’

b. Educators who had been raised on the tenets of progressive education hailed ‘open education’ as the best approach for every stage of schooling. Its hallmarks were familiar to American progressives. An open school emphasized projects, activities, and student initiative. Its teachers were ‘facilitators’ of learning, not transmitters of knowledge…Multiage groupings and individualized instruction were typical. Classrooms were arranged by activity centers, not by desks facing the teacher.” (Diane Ravitch, “Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reform,” p. 395-396)

c. A.S. Neill published Summerhill, in 1960, celebrating naturalistic learning and schools that scrapped discipline, foreswore standards, and encouraged children to learn what and how and when they wished. Ivan Illich urged the ‘de-schooling’ of society; Charles Silberman (Crisis in the Classroom) celebrated Britain’s child-centered ‘open-education’ methods as an antidote to the ‘mindlessness’ of US schools.



Teachers will do the job for which they are held accountable.

that was beautiful. my take on the same was that some time in the 70s psychologists and psychiatrists got a hold of the education system, deciding that 'support' could displace discipline. we love talking about how freedom and opportunity makes the country great. maybe so, but its ironic how discipline in uphill battles - the stark opposite - is really behind our heroes and successes.