Sandy Kress, longtime education reformer, expressed deep concern over the absence of constructive solutions in the rhetoric of many opponents of education reform.
According to Sandy Kress: "It's helpful to have diverse views and broad involvement. But, from some, it's not diverse views we get, but rather mostly simple and total opposition to change."
Kress continued: "We see plenty of opposition to tests and accountability, opposition to evaluating teachers on the basis of student achievement, opposition to proposals to improve productivity in education, opposition to Teach for America, opposition to charter schools, opposition to higher standards and rigorous courses, opposition to online education providers, and, of course, opposition to any robust form of parental choice. And the opposition from some is often mostly personal and ad hominem in nature."
Sandy Kress concluded: "All I can extract from some of the naysayers is simply this: give us the money, and get out of our way. While money and flexibility are good ideas, they don't justify going back to the old days before accountability. Let's not forget that before accountability became the norm in America in 1996, only 25% of black 8th graders were basic or above in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That percentage has doubled to over 50%. Do we really want to go back to the old days?"
According to Sandy Kress: "It's helpful to have diverse views and broad involvement. But, from some, it's not diverse views we get, but rather mostly simple and total opposition to change."
Kress continued: "We see plenty of opposition to tests and accountability, opposition to evaluating teachers on the basis of student achievement, opposition to proposals to improve productivity in education, opposition to Teach for America, opposition to charter schools, opposition to higher standards and rigorous courses, opposition to online education providers, and, of course, opposition to any robust form of parental choice. And the opposition from some is often mostly personal and ad hominem in nature."
Sandy Kress concluded: "All I can extract from some of the naysayers is simply this: give us the money, and get out of our way. While money and flexibility are good ideas, they don't justify going back to the old days before accountability. Let's not forget that before accountability became the norm in America in 1996, only 25% of black 8th graders were basic or above in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That percentage has doubled to over 50%. Do we really want to go back to the old days?"