Should teachers be setting educational policy? Based on the comments to my recent article for Education Next, the answer is a resounding “yes!” My response is a bit more nuanced: It might be worth a try, although scaling any successes would be challenging.
In the article, I acknowledged the tension between my role as education consultant and “policy wonk,” on the one hand, and my role as a father of two girls in (a very good) public elementary school, on the other. For example, as a consultant, I help schools implement positive behavioral interventions and supports for disruptive students, but, as a parent, I find myself wishing disruptive students would simply be removed from my daughters’ classroom. This tension is hardly unique to education: Consider the well-meaning environmentalist who lives in a large home and drives an SUV.