Health & Fitness
Bottom-Up Public Education Reform
Better late than never, and let's hope Obama's Sec. of Education Arne Duncan moves with deliberate speed on decentralizing reforms MetroWest were leaders on a decade before.
There is growing consensus that bottom-up solutions with our next generation of Ed Reform should not only be considered, but implemented as soon as possible. While a commitment to high, national standards should be applauded, Massachusetts has already been a leader on effective school reform measures going all the way back to 1993 and beyond.
MetroWest school districts and leading regional and charter schools should be granted waivers to emphasize their own accountability measurements over the federal government's.
Find out what's happening in Marlboroughfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
As we go forward with implementation, Mass DOE must take care not to replicate Washington and NCLB's one-size-fits all, mixing 'apple and orange' school districts, that unknowingly punish high-performers for not meeting their own lofty accountability goals.
This is another example of top-down policies (i.e. Health Care, Transportation, TARP, HAMP, Stimulus I and II, etc.) NOT working, Mr. President. Better to make the 50 states laboratories for reform and experiment, while building a framework for success, rather than micro-manage and ignore the wisdom of the 10th Amendment. Better late than never, and let's hope your Sec. of Education Arne Duncan moves with deliberate speed on decentralizing reforms Massachusetts and MetroWest were leaders on a decade before.
