Okay, admittedly the main issue is for voters right now is ….you know….the fact that the economy is in free fall and we’re all possibly extremely screwed.
After that, according to several surveys, the issues are: Iraq, health care, and education in that order—-with every other issue including terrorism, global warming and taxes below education.
The candidates differ on how to solve the nation’s education problems: McCain is big on choice, meaning school vouchers, plus new ideas like online educatonal options. Obama wants to spend substantial money on early childhood education, science education and general innovation. Both are interested in charters. According to Gallup’s report released last month, Obama seems to enjoy the edge, if education was the sole issue.
Analyses of the differences in candidates’ education policies can be found here and here.
Apart from Obama’s broad strokes ed policies, one of the most innovative strategies he favors is that of Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone , an ambitious and well-funded nonprofit that stretches across 97 blocks of central Harlem and aims to change poor children’s educational outcomes by changing their surrounding ecology, so to speak.
A new book released Friday called “Whatever It Takes,” by New York Times reporter Paul Tough, is about Canada and his methods.
“It combines two intensive, extended-day K-12 charter schools with a whole network of social supports,” writes Tough about the Children’s Zone strategy. “A parenting program and an all-day pre-kindergarten and after-school tutoring and family counseling and a health clinic. It offers children in the Zone cradle-to-college support, a ‘conveyor belt,’ as Canada puts it, that surrounds children in Harlem with the same kind of emotional nurturance and intellectual stimulation that children in middle-class and upper-middle-class communities take for granted.”
Obama would like to start twenty clones of Canada’s Children’s Zones in cities across the country.
Yesterday Tough and Geoffrey Canada were on NPR’s Fresh Air. and it’s worth your listening time.
Canada’s methods are expensive and labor intensive, and, while much heartening progress has been made, there has been no overnight success.
Yet his ideas are considered by many to be among the most visionary in the country. And, when put up against the long-term collateral costs of school failure on children and on communities (not to mention the cost of incarcerating the kids who fail too badly), Canada’s excellent Harlem adventure may turn out to be a bargain.
In addition to the smart work being done by the best of the charter schools, the Harlem Children’s Zone project is definitely the game to watch (and it’s a variation on Canada’s change-the-ecology model that many—myself included—believe is the only real long-term solution to gang violence).
PS: Some of what Canada has to say—like his views regarding teacher performance and school safety—would likely appeal to conservative as well as liberal education reformers.
Bottom line – No more money for education. There’s enough there if spent wisely. Too much has been wasted by those who cry for more.
Rather than look to other countries for solutions, don’t you think our problems are unique to our culture and demand solutions different than found elsewhere? In fact, solutions for the LAUSD are not the same as as Slapout, Alabama’s. Maybe we need more local control for local issues.
I’ve been working a lot of doubles, and I’m going to continue to for the foreseeable future. I’m tired and my head feels like they’ve scooped out my brains and then squirted in cold mashed potatoes, so I’m only stopping by for a minute to say what a neat blog this is. (-:
I hope that Woody is joking and know’s the article is referring to Geoffrey Canada, Canada being his last name.
Yeah, I was joking. That’s it. Next time I’ll actually read the entire post before commenting. Well, what’s that about English children’s zones? I suppose Great Britain has a better system, too.
OMG – he wasn’t kidding…
The irony, of course, is that Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone is the essence of targeted “local solutions to local problems.”
It’s a damned shame that it increasingly becomes hard to seperate “conservatism” from utter stupidity and analytical incompetence. David Brooks actually attempts to address this problem in his NYT column today, albeit in his wussy, weasely, “can’t-help-but-perpetuate-GOP-fabrications-despite-the-high-minded-veneer” Brooksian way.
Woody, the “English” reference was a typo. I think you’d actually like Geoffrey Canada. If you don’t want to listen to the radio show, (which is very engaging), follow the link right after the reference to Paul Tough’s book. It’s a short read and will give you an idea.
Canada is doing exactly what should be done in every major urban center if we want to reverse our dropout rates and lower our prison population.
Geoffrey Canada, who is running his charter schools with what appears to be less $ per student than LAUSD ($7,250 vs $8,400 at LAUSD / student = 58 million / 8000 kids).
He relies on Standardized Tests to measure his students. He also judged the performance of his teachers by the standardized tests with a 70% weight, which he utilized in firing the non-performers.
Another example he gave, was firing a principal who loved the kids but was not firm enough. He emphasized the need to LOVE and be FIRM at the same time. The replacement principal he hired came in with the attitude of, “There is a new Sheriff in town.†He says that you need to “Set the boundaries and enforce the rules VERY seriously.†“If a kid is disrespectful to me; I will show up at their house to speak with their parents that night at 6PM.â€Â
He also found that if they didn’t follow with help in to college the 90% of kids would fail in college.
He asked his staff/teachers if they got beat as children and the majority raised their hands. He now explains to parents that if they hit their children it causes problems, because teachers can’t beat the kids if they act up and it causes problems for everyone.
Geoffrey reminds me of Spencer Tracy (Father Flanagan) of Boys Town, where one man makes a huge impact on thousands of children. Money is a problem, but most important is finding brilliant people willing to invest their lives in educating our children and in this case also educating the parents at the same time.
It is also getting rid of institutions like LAUSD.
http://boystownmovie.org/
Nice rundown, Pokey. Glad you listened to Fresh Air . I thought it was a great show. (And there was a sad piece at the end about David Foster Wallace.)
Terry Gross / Canada Interview – “Isn’t Sarah Palin a bad example for inner city kids because she shoots a gun?â€Â
NPR – My Tax Dollars at work !
Yeah, I thought that was pretty dumb too. Usually TG is better than that.