Blog Archive » DC Public Schools

Many great comments continue to come in on my original blog in this series Who Will Teach? Students in Early Childhood Education offer these thoughts on the discussion:

Makai Kellogg writes:

"Yesterday after leaving my preschool to go to Trinity for class, I came across a bumper sticker that read "It's too bad that the people who know how to run the country are too busy teaching school." After reading President McGuire's blog, this message rang even more true in spite of the 'teacher bashing' that has been going on. I agree that good teachers need to be respected and not criticized because of bad teachers. As a former DCPS student, I have personally experienced problems such as unprepared, unmotivated teachers and facilities that were literally falling apart. At the same time I also had the opportunity to be taught by teachers who told me the truth and used their own resources to better convey meaning to their students. Blaming does not solve anything. Solutions addressing all facets of education, from meeting children's basic needs to properly training teachers, will better evoke change for the better. I am thankful that I have professors here at Trinity dedicated to preparing and producing high quality teachers so that one day the conversation will shift from the failures of our public schools to how our public schools have become the model for others." Full Article

The faculty in Trinity's School of Education have responded collectively and individually to my previous blog on the state of teacher education and Secretary Duncan's remarks.   While they posted their response on the "comments" section of the last blog, I think what they have to say is so important that I'm reposting it here:

Dear President McGuire,

We in the School of Education whole-heartedly agree with your position regarding who will teach! Teacher bashing is entirely unproductive, as is the non-inclusive approach that Chancellor Michelle Rhee seems to be taking as she attempts to implement the worthy goal of improving the District of Columbia Public Schools. We also agree that to address the school problem without addressing the context in which many students live is not a realistic approach to school reform. Pretending that good teachers alone can solve the problems in DCPS won’t get the job done. Schools do not exist in a vacuum; historic, socio-economic, and political factors including the legacies of racism and disenfranchisement have contributed to their troubles. School reform should be a part of a comprehensive plan to address poverty, adult illiteracy, and all the related issues. Full Article

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave a provocative address on the future of teacher education when he appeared at Columbia Teachers College on October 22.   Everyone involved in Trinity's School of Education — all faculty and students here, our graduates and partners in the field, our colleagues who take continuing education courses — ALL should read Secretary Duncan's speech and think about how Trinity should respond.   I encourage you to post your comments publicly to this blog, comment link below, or send me an email message with your thoughts if you don't want to post publicly. Full Article

In my previous two blogs, I have predicted that the Class of 2009 will enter a world in which the whole idea of the news media will be radically different from at present, that citizen activism will be more diffuse through the opportunities that new media present to make every person their own commentator (an idea that Thomas Friedman wrote about extensively in "The World is Flat"); I also predict that demographic and economic changes will create new ideas about social class, capitalism and socialism, and that a woman president is quite likely in the lifetimes of our graduates.

Here are my final four predictions for the Class of 2009:

7.   65 is the new 45….

…and as a result, the new retirement age will be 75 or 80…   It's not just a factor of the economy and perils to Social Security and pension funds in the recession, it's also because people are living longer and healthier well into years that once were considered old-old.  I know women in their 80's who are thriving, leading active and productive lives that their grandmothers could not have imagined. Full Article

"Education Reform" is one of the prime embattled fronts in the culture wars in this country.  News of President-elect Obama's choice of Chicago School Superintendent Arne Duncan as the new U.S. Secretary of Education brought the more recent skirmishes to a small climax as leaders of the revolutionary and reactionary sides of the schoolyard both generally agreed that Duncan is an acceptable choice.   But the cease-fire is likely to be short-lived. Full Article