I thought I would toss my oar into the rather turbulent waters of the
school issue. While I have never been able to claim the space of being a
'concerned' or even a 'committed' parent (or even a parent for that
matter.) I have spent my time in schools.
The thing that always has disturbed me about the 'standards' movement
is that they have been for the most part the people who seem to want to
disconnect the educational process from other parts of life (ie race,
economics, etc.) I think that a lot of the 'extras that Mr. Summers speaks
of such as the YMCA and other extracurricular activities are important to
the pedagogical process. I don't know Mr. Summers views on this topic, but
frequently issues such as second language programs and school breakfast and
lunch programs are sighted by many as extras as well. (If Mr. Summers is a
supporter of such programs, I apologise in advance.) The only problem that
I see with many of these programs is the simple fact that they aren't
properly funded.
The second issue I have with the testing program is that is seems that
many schools have begun merely teach for the test. Our schools should be
in existence to create good, critical thinking democratic citizens, not
test recipients. I think there can be a compromise between these two
issues, but it's something that I think we should give some thought.
The last issue I would like to bring up is the fact that the
educational process does not create jobs, and change the other systematic
issues of poverty, and underemployment (I was about to say unemployment,
but for the city at least, it is not a serious issue). School reform
always needs to placed in a larger reform context (thank you Mr. Driscoll
for bringing that up.)
Robert Wood anti-authoritarian marxist intellectual, green party
member, St. Paul resident, employee and student of the university of
minnesota
PS A fellow worker of mine at one point worked for target (in 1996 or 1997
I believe, and his wages were $6 w/o benefits, perhaps they have increased,
but I suspect not dramatically)
