We're thrilled to introduce the second cohort of Fordham Fellows and the reborn Fordham Fellows blog to the edusphere. As you may recall, even before there was Flypaper there was the Fordham Fellows blog, which had a good run from September to December of 2007. We've retooled the Fellows program for this year, and it will stretch all the way through May. Our Fellows--Laura Bornfreund, Catherine Cullen, Ben Hoffman, Nora Kern, and David Powell--are a talented crew, and will be learning the ropes of education policy in their positions at Common Core, Education Sector, Fordham, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and the National Council on Teacher Quality, respectively.
Their first assignment was to read the "broader/bolder" and "education equity" manifestos to start wrestling with the big debates in education. And they have some fair insights and good questions, like this one:
What is it about the Broader, Bolder Approach that makes Checker Finn "convinced that many of [the signatories] are trying to change the subject, diverting attention...while letting schools and educators off the hook"? What's the basis for the assumption that health and family services must always be excuses and never tools?
I can't speak for Checker, but I suspect it's his experience and familiarity with the folks behind the "broader/bolder" manifesto that gives him pause. Lawrence Mishel and Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute--the group leading this charge--have long argued against accountability in education. They've also tried to knock down the success of KIPP and its peers because they demonstrate that schools can in fact close the achievement gap, even when the larger social safety net has holes. (And did I mention that they get money from the teachers unions?) Surely there are some supporters of accountability on the list of signatories--and the manifesto itself takes pains to express vague support for the idea in theory--but the energy is coming from people who are strongly against reform. I suspect that's why Checker--and others, like Kevin Carey--can't help but read between the lines.
