I must say I am thoroughly intrigued by the education reform experiment being conducted in New York as reported by Diane Ravitch. ["Letter from New York City: Bloomberg's Reforms,"] I certainly wish them well. It will be interesting to see if they intend to incorporate the principles or procedures of the NCLB legislation...or something else. Forgive me for being excited about this, but isn't Mayor Bloomberg's approach just what is called for; authority and new ideas for a school system that has been "fixed" too much?
Mr. Bloomberg wants to start with a clean slate, which is all to the good. Secrecy will keep the naysayers at bay until a fuller picture emerges. Let's read the book before we burn it. They can no doubt retain many of the principals and teachers, but first let's see how they measure up and fit with new objectives. Are they dedicated to education, or only to tenure?
I believe we, as a nation, need a combination of "local control" and a "universal curriculum." We live in different states and different areas, with different school boards and different school superintendents, different teachers and different principals, different study materials and different procedures...to say nothing of different students. Changes and "improvements" are being made everywhere all the time. What you learn depends largely on where you go to school or who your teachers are. We all live in the same country; why shouldn't we all be entitled to the same basic education?
Fergie Byars
Graham, Washington