by James C. Sherlock
The Washington Post published an informative article on poverty and education. It recognized early on that:
“Educators and policymakers have spent decades — and billions of dollars — trying to figure out how to make it easier for students like Alexa, bright young people who face a cascade of challenges linked to poverty, succeed in school. Almost nothing has stuck.”
How that got past the editors will be the subject of protests in the newsroom later today.
Anyway, it was about the economic and educational struggles of immigrants in California’s central valley. A worthy topic.
The Post didn’t mean poverty in areas like Wise County. You know, coal country Republican voters. Not ever going to be on their radar.
But anyway, thanks for the nod to reality, WP.
Thank your favorite progressive ed school. And, of course, thanks to Harvard Graduate School of Education, previously led by current UVa President Ryan. And to our own UVa School of Education and Human Misery Development and other grad school “educators and policymakers”.
The circle of life in graduate ed schools all over the country:
- Fail for decades;
- Recruit only likeminded faculty;
- Lecture on the shortcomings of others;
- Offer radical policy prescriptions;
- Tenure for everyone;
- Get more federal “research” dollars;
- Repeat.
This time is different. The story quotes — without a hint of hesitation or irony — the predictions of Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy that this time is different.
The “colossal and historic investment is expected to cut child poverty in half” and solve poor children’s educational difficulties. Certainly they are right this time at least.
Wanna bet? I will venture an opposing prediction in two parts.
That money will disappear and poor kids, taught under policies written by radical graduate school of education professors “trying to figure out how to make it easier for students like Alexa, bright young people who face a cascade of challenges linked to poverty, succeed in school,” won’t succeed in school.
The ed school clerisy will move quickly to discontinue standardized testing to hide the evidence.
It’s a lock.
