Has education reform jumped the shark? A teacher says 'yes'

We are all excited at the Grassroots Edcuation Movement here in NYC (GEMNYC) as we prepare to release out trailer for out movie: The Absolute Truth About Waiting for Superman, which we hope to have ready by the end of October. Not bad for a bunch of NYC teachers and an old fart retiree doing a movie that so far cost about 8 bucks.

Our movie has Real Reformers - parent and teacher voices - the real heroes -  along with some ed policy people. And original music and lyrics written and performed by pros just for our movie.

Later I will post the lyrics of a Slim Shady song that was rewritten by our crew - Will the Real Reformers Please Stand Up?

Oh, Valerie, how do I love thee?

In today's Answer Sheet by Valerie Strauss at WAPO, we have more of the sense that the ed deform movement has hit the wall.

This post was written by Anthony Cody, a science teacher in inner-city Oakland for 18 years who now works with a team of experienced science teacher-coaches who support the many novice teachers in his school district. It originally appeared on the Teacher Magazine’s website, here. Cody is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. You can read more by Cody at his website, Teachers Lead. 
 
By Anthony Cody

Education reformers have invested billions of dollars in numerous ventures that promote their vision, and we'll see them in the next few weeks. The release of the documentary Waiting for Superman, NBC’s Education Nation specials and teacher town hall, and D.C. Schools Superintendent Michelle Rhee and Bill Gates on The Oprah Winfrey Show -- all will create a crescendo of voices, images and the master narrative that has been carefully developed over the past decade

That narrative goes like this: Our schools are failing. The only way to save them is to expand charters, remove due process for teachers so they can be fired, and further raise the stakes on standardized test scores.

But ideologically driven projects like this have a way of over reaching, over-promising, and overestimating their strength. And the moment that they reach their apex is actually the moment they begin to collapse. Education reform has finally jumped the shark.

The signs of its imminent collapse are all around us.
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