Toothless Redux

Joanne Jacobs writes up some of Andy Smarick’s great work in her Show me the reform blog. Andy sees a lot of toothless reforms in Race to the Top and Joe Williams over at DFER thinks that NYC just blew chunks. They are right on the money, so to speak and it is a case of history repeating itself.

Back in the day, in a galaxy far, far away, all children were to be taught by a highly qualified teacher by the year 2006. This was the law of the land with severe consequences if states didn’t achieve it. Lo and behold, 2006 came and went and we didn’t hit the goal. So the Central Authority decreed throughout the land that innovative teacher recruitment plans must be submitted in order to reach this lofty goal. The plans were toiled over by groups of education establishment and sent in by a deadline to be reviewed by the US DOE. It was determined that these new and exciting innovations would help us ensure that every child had a qualified teacher.

I read these plans. There were no innovations – the states basically stated what they were already doing and put a different spin on how those results would ensure equitable distribution of teachers. The pig recieved her lipstick and all was well in the land.

Looking at the blogs above, I fear that history will repeat itself here. There will be spin and lip service but you will be able to go to any state three years from now and not see much of a difference. I hope I am wrong with this kind of money but I doubt it. Most states are just breaking out a new shade of lipstick for the swine.