Gov. Jerry Brown’s message accompanying his veto of legislation to overhaul California’s system of measuring the performance of students and their schools was blunt, iconoclastic and witty. In disputing the conventional wisdom emphasizing the importance of testing, the governor invoked Greek mythology – mocking the “siren song” of the latest trends in education reform – and quoted Albert Einstein – “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
But his veto message raised larger questions: Is Brown rejecting the value of testing in general or just attempting to play the role of a policy provocateur?
In a phone interview this morning with a U-T editorial writer, the governor said it was “neither a rejection of testing or a spur to debate.” Instead, Brown said, it was “critical reflection” on the bill by Senate President Darrell Steinberg and its addition of more vague measures of student and school performance, which he called “a fool’s errand.”
“I believe [in] a certain amount of testing,” Brown said, calling the existing Academic Performance Index “a good metric.” But he said it shouldn’t crowd out “other good measures” of student performance.
One thought on “Talking education with California Gov. Brown”
Comments are closed.
Jerry Browns veto message was the first I’ve heard from any politician that indicated the person understood the problems in education. Testing is certainly one of,the critical issues. There are many more, but at least he got this one right.