Hey friends,
I thought I would share a few articles about the political climate in the education space as the semester begins to wind down (about time!). This semester, I had the privilege of taking an education policy graduate course where I learned about who are the major movers and shakers who create and implement education policy, how interest groups or constituents influence those policies, and the short and long-term policy effects as they trickle down to the classroom. My perception of education and the capacity of reform definitely changed in this class, partially because I no longer viewed education as this isolated field in society but, as some scholars call it, an "open system" susceptible to the socioeconomic and political forces that are continuously influencing what educators prioritize.
This article from the NYT talks about the appointment of the new chancellor of NYC schools, Cathleen P. Black and some of the controversy surrounding her limited background in education. She will be replacing Joel I. Klein who recently resigned and assuming his responsibilities to manage the nation's largest school system serving 1.1 million children with 135,000 employees and 1,600 schools.
The proponents of Black's appointment are very critical on her lack of exposure to the education space; Mayor Michael Bloomberg had appointed her for her experience as a veteran CEO in the media business. Just recently, the mayor and the state education commissioner reached a settlement to proceed with the appointment with the condition that a former principal of a Bronx high school named Shael Polakow-Suransky would become the chief academic officer to oversee curriculum and testing at the NYC Department of Education. This dual appointment will in theory help offset the lack of education expertise that Black brings to the NYC Department of Education but still retain Black's keen ability to manage large organizations.
You can read more about the article yourself, but what I took away from this were a few things:
1) Mayoral control over school systems. In theory, the mayor represents the people and will make the appropriate decisions with the city's good in mind, but with this power comes an injection of politics into the education space which (ironically) distorts the true intentions of education policy frequently.
2) Educator vs. management background. The appointment of a business entrepreneur to manage schools is not a new idea (NGOs and major foundations, for example, are often founded by these very people), but it's questionable whether the problem is actually inefficiencies within the school system or curriculum problems. When you are managing schools, you often need more than just a management background but a very deep understanding of the classroom dynamics, school district politics, and so forth or else you will not understand the constituents you are managing and serving. On the other hand, someone with teaching experience is not necessarily qualified to run a organization serving more than one million children.
Some food for thought. Would love to hear back!
Michelle
I thought I would share a few articles about the political climate in the education space as the semester begins to wind down (about time!). This semester, I had the privilege of taking an education policy graduate course where I learned about who are the major movers and shakers who create and implement education policy, how interest groups or constituents influence those policies, and the short and long-term policy effects as they trickle down to the classroom. My perception of education and the capacity of reform definitely changed in this class, partially because I no longer viewed education as this isolated field in society but, as some scholars call it, an "open system" susceptible to the socioeconomic and political forces that are continuously influencing what educators prioritize.
This article from the NYT talks about the appointment of the new chancellor of NYC schools, Cathleen P. Black and some of the controversy surrounding her limited background in education. She will be replacing Joel I. Klein who recently resigned and assuming his responsibilities to manage the nation's largest school system serving 1.1 million children with 135,000 employees and 1,600 schools.
The proponents of Black's appointment are very critical on her lack of exposure to the education space; Mayor Michael Bloomberg had appointed her for her experience as a veteran CEO in the media business. Just recently, the mayor and the state education commissioner reached a settlement to proceed with the appointment with the condition that a former principal of a Bronx high school named Shael Polakow-Suransky would become the chief academic officer to oversee curriculum and testing at the NYC Department of Education. This dual appointment will in theory help offset the lack of education expertise that Black brings to the NYC Department of Education but still retain Black's keen ability to manage large organizations.
You can read more about the article yourself, but what I took away from this were a few things:
1) Mayoral control over school systems. In theory, the mayor represents the people and will make the appropriate decisions with the city's good in mind, but with this power comes an injection of politics into the education space which (ironically) distorts the true intentions of education policy frequently.
2) Educator vs. management background. The appointment of a business entrepreneur to manage schools is not a new idea (NGOs and major foundations, for example, are often founded by these very people), but it's questionable whether the problem is actually inefficiencies within the school system or curriculum problems. When you are managing schools, you often need more than just a management background but a very deep understanding of the classroom dynamics, school district politics, and so forth or else you will not understand the constituents you are managing and serving. On the other hand, someone with teaching experience is not necessarily qualified to run a organization serving more than one million children.
Some food for thought. Would love to hear back!
Michelle
