Mike Smith got it started by asking how many audience members had health insurance, had brought their kids to the pediatrician or the dentist, etc. And he said that just miles from here, kids die "every day" from complications from cavities. (OK, that's hyperbole, but we'll let it pass.)
It's Gene Hickok's turn. (Nice professorial glasses and sweater vest, Gene!) Of course, he says, there's a relationship between all of these social factors and achievement. That's why we were so focused on No Child Left Behind. "Disadvantaged kids are at a disadvantage," he admits.??(What's the opposite of hyperbole?)
The "affirmative" team insists that the broader/bolder manifesto signers are completely committed to holding schools accountable. And the "negative" team didn't disagree. Darn.
So some friends of mine asked me why we didn't pit the "broader/bolder" folks against the "educational equity" folks. You know, an intra-Democratic party brawl? The real answer was that we were worried that it would turn into a non-debate. Everyone would agree that we should both fight the war on poverty AND work on school reform.
Neither team. By audience applause, and Checker's verdict, it's declared a tie.
Stats stud Mark Schneider of the American Institutes for Research graced our studio for the latest Education Gadfly Show podcast episode, now available here.
Checker recently visited schools in the slums of Hyderabad, India, where low-budget private schools are educating kids--and doing a pretty good job.
Denver schools superintendent Michael Bennet* is racing ahead of his competitors for the Arne-alternative spot in our pick-the-next-education-secretary daily tracking poll of education insiders.
This afternoon at 4:30 Fordham is hosting our second "Great Debate," this one on the "Broader/Bolder" manifesto. (Video of our first Great Debate is here.) Combatants (I mean participants) include:
The debate is about to begin. What to watch for? Will Mike Smith and Peter Edelman make it clear that they support test-based accountability? Or will they argue that since "schools alone" can't close the achievement gap, "schools alone" shouldn't be held accountable?
Peter Edelman just had the best line so far: "I go home every night to a household where the term "leave no child behind" originated." (Referring, of course, to his wife Marian Wright Edelman and her work??leading the Children's Defense Fund.) Edelman: Our society hasn't been living up to our ideals for the past forty years in terms of reaching??out to the neediest.
Doug Besharov is flummoxed. He was going to rebut the broader/bolder manifesto by going left...but Edelman just went SO FAR LEFT that it's going to be tough! His question: In a stimulus package, or in the federal budget, where does the last dollar go? Should it go to the schools or to these other social services?
Mike Smith just mentioned that his wife is the principal of a high-poverty charter school. Peter Edelman already mentioned that his son* works on charter school issues for Arne Duncan. Is it just me or is working in a charter school the new badge of a true progressive? Hooray for charter schools!
Mike Smith and Peter Edelman have announced that they are going to be the next education secretary. (They plan to job-share.)
Joel Packer of the NEA wants to know if we should expand the idea of accountability under NCLB. For example, should schools and social services agencies be held accountable for making sure kids get their asthma medicine?
Peter Edelman urges us to fight poverty. We're a wealthy nation, after all. Doug Besharov points out that the best way to fight poverty is through better education. And we ought to learn what works best under what conditions. So if there's not enough money for everything, let's spend money wisely, do solid research,??and learn something from it. And that's a wrap.
Kevin Carey spent a whole week writing about the Finns, and never once mentioned Checker Finn. Kevin, what's up with that?
