Understanding the Power and Politics of Public Education by Mulvey Janet;Cooper Bruce S.;

Author:Mulvey, Janet;Cooper, Bruce S.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated

Part III

Summary of U.S. and International Efforts to Increase Educational Opportunity and Mobility

Chapter 6

Changing the Landscape

Reinventing Public Education

Janet D. Mulvey

The evidence is clear: public education is failing to produce results necessary to compete internationally, create environments for social mobility, or to maintain citizenry knowledgeable to sustain a democracy.

The United States is continuing to fall behind, as evidenced by our standing on the PISA, the dropout rate from high schools, the increase of children living in poverty, the rate of imprisonment, and generational patterns living in segregated communities with little or no social or economic mobility.

Educational failure continues to be the trend due, in part, to a complete lack of understanding of cognitive development and readiness to learn. Inflexible mandated standards, prescribed rote-style teaching, poor resources, and fewer qualified teachers have become the mantra for the public school. Recent studies on educational failure are compared to the many trials and failures among companies involved in experimental research.

As Jacob (2015) clarifies, “Interestingly the high failure rate for well-designed studies in education is similar to the rates in other fields, including late stage clinical trials in pharmaceuticals and testing in business” (p. np). For-profit companies (when conducting trials) can throw out failures and begin anew. The only loss is to the expected and planned-for expense ratio, knowing that when success is reached, the profit will be greater than the loss.

Experimenting with unresearched, policy-driven educational curricula in a one-size-fits-all format contradicts every proven theory of learning and results in failure for millions of children in the United States. Educating the populace should not be viewed as a business where the profit/loss ratio is the measure for success. The current mandates of measurement are, however, aligned with the business model. And we are suffering increasing losses to the bottom line: our children and our future. We cannot, as a proclaimed democracy, experience the same loss for our country.

Are we reverting back to Plato’s philosophy of rule? Okpala (2009) reflects, “History provides examples of autocrats who brought tragedy and devastation to the people that they governed. Many were appointed in an attempt to bring relief in times of turmoil, but ended up by using their political prowess to dictate and oppress” (p. 50).

The demographics of the public school has changed. Fifty-one percent of children attending public school were once “minority” (nonwhite), but are now the majority. Today, students are more culturally diverse, speak languages different from English, and more often than not live under the umbrella of low income. Policy makers thwart support efforts for public schooling by using vague language: school choice, taxpayer dollars for private and religious education, and charter schools to divert money from public schooling that “dictates and oppresses” millions of those attending.

Inequality in environments, school resources, teacher quality, living conditions, and political representation are relegating back to the period reflected in Plato’s philosophy of remanding power to the professional elites.

The United States, under Horace Mann, understood the value of educating its entire people. His philosophy established the public school to assure an educated populace that would sustain a democratic system.

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