We Are Not an Interest Group

It appears to me there is no end to the number of people and organizations who want to make decisions and policy for public schools.  Now, the NRA has proposed armed security guards on every campus.  The NRA?  A group dedicated to ensure their interpretation of the 2^nd Amendment remains in place.  School security strategies?  School climate strategies?  This is as crazy as Bill Gates wanting to write school policy and lawyer legislators wanting to write school policy and Pearson wanting to write school policy and even a few quirky, rich medical doctors wanting to write school policy.  Everybody is now qualified to design strategies for school improvement.  In fact, if your school is not improving, an outside group is assigned to come in and take a look at what you are doing to figure out how you can get better.  Really?  An outside group?  The message is clear and consistent:  anybody is qualified to determine what schools ought to do except professional school people.  And I grow weary and angry at such an assumption.

School professionals have no political clout.  All we have is knowledge, experience and expertise, so we are not consulted.  We do not have money, and what money we have is taxpayer money that we would prefer to spend on kids rather than on lobbying efforts.  In fact, it is illegal for us to spend such money on lobbying so the only lobbying contributions school folks make is out of their own pockets, a woefully shallow source of revenue.  Not true for Bill and Melinda, not true for NRA, not true for the Broad Foundation, not true for Wal-Mart, not true for a host of charter organizations, and not true for Pearson.  These folks have tons of money and contribute to campaigns to get their wishes enrolled as law.  And most often, they are wrong, or short sighted, or self-serving and they have seriously messed up schools in this country.

Professional educators have watched as legislators consistently make mistakes in law regarding good school policy.  We have told them they were screwing up, but they did it anyway.  Career Ladder in Texas was a terrible idea, we told them, they did it, it did not work, and it was canceled.  Mandatory bus safety training was a terrible idea, we told them, they did it, it did not work, and it was canceled.  Requiring the EOC to count as 15% of a student’s grade was terrible idea, we told them, they did it anyway, it will not work and has been put on hold.  Connecting teacher evaluation to student standardized test scores is a terrible idea, we have told them that and we hope they listen.  Blaming teachers for student performance is a terrible philosophy, we have told them that, they have not listened and we are paying the price for this across the county.  Diverting public money from schools to charter schools is a terrible idea, we have told them that and they are doing it anyway.  Diverting public money from schools in the form of vouchers is a terrible idea, we have told them that, and they continue to try to find a way to enact such legislation.  Race to the top is a terrible idea, we have told them that, and they are doing it anyway.  Putting armed guards on every campus in the US is a terrible idea, will not work, we are telling them that, and we hope they listen.  I have little confidence.

Sandy Hook was a terrible tragedy.  Now is not the time to overreact, put a knee jerk policy in place and make another round of costly mistakes in school policy.  No prescription should be universally administered.  That is true of penicillin and armed guards in schools.  Some schools may want or need that.  Some do not.  It should be a local decision based on the facts and reality of the local school.  The decision should not be made out of fear.  It should be professional, rational.  It will take professional school folks to recommend what we should do.  I hope the decision makers listen.

Chances are they won’t.  We are not an interest group.