Urban Education: A Trillion Dollar Business

I read Diane Ravitch's most recent book last weekend in one sitting; it was just that compelling. As I read it, I could not help but think of the many teachers and administrators with whom I have spoken over the past 8 years who have just been lamenting about the damage done to our kids. They were not complaining because they were simply resisting the NCLB reform agenda. Their concerns were bonafide. They and I see NCLB as a dumbing down of students who attend public schools in this country. Others who are more in tune with history and politics see it as a strategy to end public schools in this country.

Diane Ravitch is a scholar, which is why I don't understand why it took her so long to get it. And, yet I do understand. You see, the students who were the victims of this so-called accountability system were not her children and grandchildren. They don't attend the schools where children don't have access to the best in curriculum and instruction. She and her children would not allow it. However, when you make decisions for "other people's children" you don't see through the same lens nor do you share the same level of urgency as the others do. In a recent leadership role I had to explain to those who were making decisions about empowerment for others that they could not establish a different standard for empowerment for other people. What is empowerment for them, the leaders, had to be the same for the program participants.

The real travesty in all of this is that the African American scholars voices were silent or silenced in the national dialogue about NCLB. Rod Paige, unfortunately, is not the person who could have brought the kind of leadership that was needed while Secretary of Education. His experiences in the Texas School System simply did not prepare him for the depth and breadth of understanding of curriculum and instruction that was needed. The wake-up call is that those of us who may not be considered as scholars must still take on those who are. Clearly, when they are wrong, there errors are deadly.

The NCLB legislation requires the annual assessment of all students on standardized tests. Because the stakes are so high, when they're not being tested, teachers are preparing them for the test. The test is primarily fill in the blank. They are not similar to the New York State Regents exams that were based on the curriculum that was to be taught at particular grade levels for specific subjects. These tests are low level and the teaching that leads up to them is low level as well. Students are rebelling in various ways because they intuitively understand that what they are being "trained" to do is not education at all; and it is preparing them for a life of burgers and low-paid service job.

If you wonder why African American, Latino and poor white students are unable to write and read well. Well, wonder no more. They are not required to produce essays and research papers to demonstrate how well they have learned required information, unless they are in accelerated programs.

The insidious tracking of students continues. We know that it is not good education. We know that the effects have a long-term impact on students' lives and yet school systems continue to engage in a practice that we know not only leaves children behind, it pushes them behind.

I do not understand how this country can permit the misuse of billions of taxpayers dollars with the substandard education that millions of children are receiving. We are losing our students because of this NCLB era. This is occurring about a decade after the failure of the whole language movement, which resulted in a generation of students who have no word analysis skills and very poor writing skills. The experimentation with our students must stop. It is criminal. We know how to teach all students; we simply do not have the will to do it. We know how to hold teachers accountable; we just do not hold principals accountable for doing their jobs: professional development, coaching and evaluations.

Asa Hilliard's and Barbara Sizemore's voices are no longer audible because they have passed on. I refuse to allow their legacy to die with them. I have been quiet too long. It is time for my voice to be heard. I am an educator who has served at every level; and I have shared successes with great teachers, administrators and parents for our students.

I am committed to doing all that I can to save public schools because our children need them. I am searching for others who will challenge the powers that be to turn this ship around. Urban schools must be improved by those that understand and live urban education. They cannot be improved by those who simply read about them. Doctors donot learn how to perform heart surgery by simply reading a manual. Politicians cannot fix the heart of urban education that way either.