He begins with the problematic notion that “schools are ‘community institutions.’” This is a politically convenient concept that allows schools to get away with poor performance and drift from their core mission, making education about everything but academic performance. “Would residents be OK with drinking contaminated water, laced with dysentery and typhoid, in order to protect the jobs of those who work for public water agencies?” Kogan asks.
Many American educational failures, Kogan argues, are failures of democratic accountability. The voting public is not just parents; academic outcomes aren’t always voters’ highest priority; and most local or school board elections are either uncontested or fail to present meaningful choices to voters. It also doesn’t help that education politics has become so polarized. As Kogan writes, “It is adults who ultimately control public school districts through the ballot box, and what they want is often quite different than what public school students need.”
Schools face a “trilemma,” writes Kogan. They must provide “a quality education for students, democratic accountability to local voters, and good-paying employment opportunities for local residents.” But because children don’t vote, quality education often falls by the wayside.
This is especially true when it comes to decisions to close or consolidate schools—an increasingly common occurrence in a time of declining school-age population. Kogan finds that consolidations and closures by and large don’t affect students’ academic outcomes, but they’re hard to implement because adult concerns make them “unavoidably a political rather than a technocratic process.” The result is often wasteful and inefficient spending.
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Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection?
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Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per student) K-12 tax & spending practices. This, despite long term, disastrous reading results.
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?