Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

332 schools by changing the systems in which they are embedded, the reward structures that perpetuate them, and the defining features (e.g., curriculum, school days, performance measurement) of the schools themselves. The critical assumption is that the schools can be transformed from within.... In effect, blame for the problems of national competitiveness and for the problems of children in a complex and changing society is moving away from schools toward a more honest assessment of what is producing the so-called crisis in our schools. The answers often lie outside the schools themselves. Since schools reflect society, it may be necessary to rebuild the community infrastructure in new ways, by using the school itself as a community resource…. Despite significant external pressures and constant cries of crisis in the educational system, schools have remained largely unchanged…. School days remain, for the most part, shorter than those of other industrialized na tions, and the school year remains on an agrarian calendar. The structure of schools tends to isolate teachers not only from each other, but also from other important stakeholders, such as parents, businesses, social service and civic agencies, and community organizations that might take up some of the social and family burdens that have been placed on schools. Subjects are still predominantly taught in rote memorization fashion in short bursts of activity of 45–50 minutes. Often little time is devoted to staff or curriculum development. In part, this situation exists because, as Chester Finn has stated, “people aren’t changing their behavior at the ‘retail’ level of education.” The explanation for this inability to change is due, in part, to public attitudes about education and schooling. These attitudes, which research shows are pervasive, mean that, rhetoric aside, fostering serious organizational change in schools has been difficult to accomplish…. Case 1: Re:Learning—Monsanto, Southwestern Bell, Emerson Electric and Hallmark’s Sup port for Systemic Education Reform The group determined that the goal would be active student learning with demonstra tions of student accomplishment, which is a fundamental aspect of the Common Principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools. The principles provided a foundation upon which all of the group’s efforts could build, with particular attention devoted to the aspect it deemed most critical to actually achieving their goals: development of the teachers who work in the restructured schools. The organizational framework the coalition chose to achieve its goal was Re:Learning, a national effort to address education reform by redesigning the total education system. Re: Learning, begun in 1988, includes the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Education Com mission of the States, and all member schools, districts, and states.... Case 5: Partnership for Kentucky School Reform The state of Kentucky is identified as being on the leading edge of the school re structuring and reform movement. Faced with the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which was intended to radically restructure schools because the system had been declared unconstitutional, business leaders in the state rallied together with educators and govern ment leaders. This type of collaboration was not new: Leaders in these three sectors had been inter acting for a number of years, particularly concerning issues of education in the Louisville area and surrounding Jefferson County. Indeed, Louisville had been one of the 12 National Alliance of Business Compact Cities, funded to develop ways for these sectors to work to gether to improve education. MODELS OF COLLABORATION FOR SYSTEMIC REFORM