Riemblog

This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of posts on a topic about which I am a verifiable expert: the contemporary practice of secondary education in urban America. As the “About the Riemblogger” section of this blog notes, education is one of my interests. I can’t really help being interested in it: it is what I do for a living. It is my vocation.

For 20 years I have served in various capacities in a comprehensive high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District: Verdugo Hills High School. This school has changed considerably over this period of time, mirroring the socio-political milieu of the city of Los Angeles and reflecting the issues that the city has grappled with and continues to try to work out.

I have seen the district go through several complicated, convoluted reform attempts during this time and I have seen none of them work.

This series of posts will examine the most significant of these reform efforts:

·      School Based Management

·      Standards-based Instruction

·      Accountability

·      Small Learning Communities

I am not a cynic: I love my work–it truly is a vocation to me. I am not burned out: after 20 years I feel more enthusiastic and passionate about my work than I ever have.

But I am realistic. I have seen precious little improvement over the course of my career (although the school I work at has, according to standard measurements, consistently met its growth goals since their establishment).

The dilemma of public education is complex. First, how schools are funded and the model of administration are problematic. Too much money goes to the wrong places and intimidatory, top-down management styles predominate.

Second, curriculum development has not kept up with societal trends, and where it has tried, this has resulted in a diminishment of the subject matter and its treatment rather than an enhancement of the material and the students’ educational experience.

Third, everyone is an expert. This is best exemplified by the recent and spectacular failure of LAUSD’s Admiral-cum-superintendent, David Brewer III. As a teacher, I am perhaps overly sensitive to the amazingly pervasive attitude that since everyone went to school everyone knows how to fix education. I’ve gone to doctors and hospitals all my life but I would not attempt to remove anyone’s spleen. Most people have little understanding of what the problems are, much less how to fix them.

Fourth, the mission of public education in schools has expanded to such an extent that the institution is charged with tasks the accomplishment of which would require a restructuring of society itself. No longer are our schools places where students learn their basic literacy, numeracy, and reasoning skills (as well as social skills). They are now  esteem-building centers wrapped inside of health-care and day-care facilities, built atop food-distribution complexes, annexed to employment development agencies — and the list goes on. No other enterprise is asked to do so much for so many with so little.

Come back to check out how we sort out the problems and to find out how we think the problems can best be solved.

After a rather lengthy hiatus, the Riemblog is back. Picking on George W. Bush was just too easy; we left that to Keith Olbermann. With the installation of Barack Obama, we’ll see what kind of hope and change is in store for us.

So long, it's been good to know you...