Last year, Diane Ravitch visited St. John’s University as the key speaker in the Carol Gresser Forum (November 2010). Dr. Ravitch delivered a speech to the then newly appointed Chancellor, Cathie Black. In this speech, Dr. Ravitch mentioned her book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” and her research on charter schools. She mentioned that her opinion of charter schools has changed since writing that book. “The Myth of Charter Schools” debunks what you see in “Waiting For Superman,” a documentary which hit theaters last year that attracted so much attention to America’s education and the charter school debate.
The message of these documentaries, according to Dr. Ravitch, is that American public education is a failed enterprise. The only hope for the students is to escape from public schools to charter schools. That would brand charter schools as a successful alternative to public education. Public schools have been around longer than charter schools, so it might be difficult for Americans to fathom the idea of turning away from public schools to charter schools.
This article by Dr. Ravitch is a good follow up to “Waiting For Superman.” Read this article after you watch the film. You may or may not be swayed by Dr. Ravitch’s research and opinions, but it is definitely beneficial to see this debate from another side.
Dr. Diane Ravitch visited St. John's University last year and I greatly enjoyed her speech directed at the then NYC public schools Chancellor, Cathie Black. Dr. Ravitch does not hesitate to speak her mind and voice the situations that she believes are wrong.
In this article she did no less. Dr. Ravitch criticizes Davis Guggenheim's blockbuster hit "Waiting for Superman" by breaking down each piece of the film that was not true. Not to say that Dr. Ravitch's "opinion" should be taken as any more than that, but it is interesting to hear the other side of the story. The side that supports traditional public schools through evidence and does not praise charter schools for all that they appear to do.
One staement in Dr. Ravitch's article that summed up the entire piece for me is, "becoming a charter is no guarantee that a school serving a tough neighborhood will produce educational miracles". There are challenges facing both schools and neither of these two types of institutions are better than the other. Thus, common ground needs to be met to ensure that no more schools are closed, teachers laid off and students left behind.
I found it quite interesting how Diane Ravitch made the point that this isn’t the first movie discussing the topic of Charter Schools. It is unfortunate how a well-known name is the reason this movie got the attention it did. With this said, Waiting for Superman put the topic on the table, but I believe it did it in the wrong way.
Regarding the topics of teachers I do not think they are a problem. I do believe the rules, regulations, and requirements are in need of revision. The fact that a teacher can get away with anything except sexual harassment and still remain in a classroom is absurd to me. Teachers who are tenured should not have a privilege like experiencing a rubber room because this influences their effort and motivation in the classroom. Another reason why I don’t think teachers are the problem is because of the education they get. College does not prepare future educators to deal with emotional and physical factors. What schools expect teachers to handle on a day-to-day basis requires knowledge of a psychologist. A teacher in the slums of the Bronx may be a fantastic teacher, but their skills are going to be hindered by the environment they are in especially compared to a teacher in upstate New York. It is proven by numbers and I do believe that not all charter schools are bad. However, in the end they are not enhancing the NYC public school system. Waiting for Superman did a fabulous job of exploiting the public schools and failed to mention the glitches with charter schools. Of course the case of charter schools is inspirational and moving when only the positives are the focal point. If we were to talk about the top performing public schools in any location thru a documentary the audience would leave and feel good about their children attending public school.
Everyone is quick to assume that money is always the reason that schools systems are failing. Money is not the reason as to why schools are failing. Publis schools have been around for a long, long time. There are cracks in the foundation it was built on that need to be addressed. Until we go back and fix those cracks and take the next step, there is not future. According to my personal research on educationportal.com, researchers talk about 5 main factors that need to be addressed. 1) No Accountability 2)Wasted Funds 3) Political Agendas 4) No CHild left behind Act and 5) One size does not fit all. We need stay positve and continue wokring on finding the ticket that makes all schools successful and giving the children the bestthey deserve.
Last year, Diane Ravitch visited St. John’s University as the key speaker in the Carol Gresser Forum (November 2010). Dr. Ravitch delivered a speech to the then newly appointed Chancellor, Cathie Black. In this speech, Dr. Ravitch mentioned her book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” and her research on charter schools. She mentioned that her opinion of charter schools has changed since writing that book. “The Myth of Charter Schools” debunks what you see in “Waiting For Superman,” a documentary which hit theaters last year that attracted so much attention to America’s education and the charter school debate.
ReplyDeleteThe message of these documentaries, according to Dr. Ravitch, is that American public education is a failed enterprise. The only hope for the students is to escape from public schools to charter schools. That would brand charter schools as a successful alternative to public education. Public schools have been around longer than charter schools, so it might be difficult for Americans to fathom the idea of turning away from public schools to charter schools.
This article by Dr. Ravitch is a good follow up to “Waiting For Superman.” Read this article after you watch the film. You may or may not be swayed by Dr. Ravitch’s research and opinions, but it is definitely beneficial to see this debate from another side.
Dr. Diane Ravitch visited St. John's University last year and I greatly enjoyed her speech directed at the then NYC public schools Chancellor, Cathie Black. Dr. Ravitch does not hesitate to speak her mind and voice the situations that she believes are wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn this article she did no less. Dr. Ravitch criticizes Davis Guggenheim's blockbuster hit "Waiting for Superman" by breaking down each piece of the film that was not true. Not to say that Dr. Ravitch's "opinion" should be taken as any more than that, but it is interesting to hear the other side of the story. The side that supports traditional public schools through evidence and does not praise charter schools for all that they appear to do.
One staement in Dr. Ravitch's article that summed up the entire piece for me is, "becoming a charter is no guarantee that a school serving a tough neighborhood will produce educational miracles". There are challenges facing both schools and neither of these two types of institutions are better than the other. Thus, common ground needs to be met to ensure that no more schools are closed, teachers laid off and students left behind.
I found it quite interesting how Diane Ravitch made the point that this isn’t the first movie discussing the topic of Charter Schools. It is unfortunate how a well-known name is the reason this movie got the attention it did. With this said, Waiting for Superman put the topic on the table, but I believe it did it in the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the topics of teachers I do not think they are a problem. I do believe the rules, regulations, and requirements are in need of revision. The fact that a teacher can get away with anything except sexual harassment and still remain in a classroom is absurd to me. Teachers who are tenured should not have a privilege like experiencing a rubber room because this influences their effort and motivation in the classroom.
Another reason why I don’t think teachers are the problem is because of the education they get. College does not prepare future educators to deal with emotional and physical factors. What schools expect teachers to handle on a day-to-day basis requires knowledge of a psychologist. A teacher in the slums of the Bronx may be a fantastic teacher, but their skills are going to be hindered by the environment they are in especially compared to a teacher in upstate New York.
It is proven by numbers and I do believe that not all charter schools are bad. However, in the end they are not enhancing the NYC public school system. Waiting for Superman did a fabulous job of exploiting the public schools and failed to mention the glitches with charter schools. Of course the case of charter schools is inspirational and moving when only the positives are the focal point. If we were to talk about the top performing public schools in any location thru a documentary the audience would leave and feel good about their children attending public school.
Everyone is quick to assume that money is always the reason that schools systems are failing. Money is not the reason as to why schools are failing. Publis schools have been around for a long, long time. There are cracks in the foundation it was built on that need to be addressed. Until we go back and fix those cracks and take the next step, there is not future. According to my personal research on educationportal.com, researchers talk about 5 main factors that need to be addressed. 1) No Accountability 2)Wasted Funds 3) Political Agendas 4) No CHild left behind Act and 5) One size does not fit all.
ReplyDeleteWe need stay positve and continue wokring on finding the ticket that makes all schools successful and giving the children the bestthey deserve.