More Stellar Writing on Public Education

Melissa Westbrook:

or the second time in a week, I have been dazzled by some great writing on education. The Times has an op-ed by SPS high school teacher, Dan Magill, in response to the op-ed by Brad Smith (whose piece was about needed ed reform).

He very plainly sets out the challenge and the goal:

I would like to reframe the reality. There aren't two sides. There are four corners. And in the middle hangs the goal: a sober-minded, analytical, skilled population that seizes opportunities by the gray matter.

Waiting in corner one, the students -- a word I'll define shortly. Warming up in corner two, the good teachers. The bad teachers don't get a corner, partly because there aren't very many of them. Corner three features the employers -- people who just want dependable, qualified employees. And in corner four, we have the reform crowd -- ones who influence educational policy regardless of their qualifications for doing so. These are the "meddlers."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 3, 2012 1:26 AM
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