Manufacturing Problems and Selling Solutions

Abstract

The engines that drive market forces are inappropriate for schools, Mr. Tanner warns. Aside from our history, which demonstrates necessity for public regulation of these forces so as to protect democratic public interest, there is need to recognize that mission of business is maximizing profits, while mission of public education is serving social good. THE AMERICAN people's faith in education has survived a long tradition of excoriation of public schools over a time span extending from World War I, through Great Depression and opposition to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, through nationalizing influences on education from Cold War and space race, to present-day demands of global marketplace. Of course, incessant and ever- heightening forays against public schools on part of right-wing politicians, special-interest groups, elements of corporate sector, Righteous Right, tax conservatives, opportunists, mass media, and commissions churning out national reports on education reform have all extracted their pound of flesh. So it is all more remarkable that American people's belief in education has been so unshakable and enduring. Public Schooling as Scapegoat One would expect that, after a half-century of Cold War, scold war against America's schools would have been laid to rest. After all, if America's public schools were responsible for alleged Soviet supremacy in arms race or space race and subsequently for placing nation at risk in race for dominance over global marketplace, then collapse of Soviet Union and emerging American hegemony on all fronts in world affairs - economic, political, and military - would logically lead one to believe that nation's public schools deserve some measure of credit. Or perhaps one might have expected that course of national and global events, including sustained and unprecedented economic boom in America, might have taken heat off public schools and led to a concerted national effort to provide adequate school buildings, facilities, learning resources, a full and rich curriculum, smaller classes at all levels, and qualified teachers in all classrooms. Most important of all, one might have expected that at last a concerted national effort would have been launched to close shameful gap between facilities and resources provided schools in wealthiest communities and those in poorest ones. Instead, American people were told by President George Bush as part of America 2000 strategy (many of provisions of which were adopted by Clinton Administration as part of Goals 2000) that school funding would not help public schools; he called instead for revolutionary reinvention of American public education by channeling public funds in ways that would allow parental choice to create competitive climate that stimulates excellence in our private and parochial schools.1 How has it been possible to sustain attacks against American public education over such an extended period? Because the belief in education is a part of, or a principal conclusion from, American Creed,2 as Gunnar Myrdal observed, public education becomes a ready scapegoat, and politicians can perform easy sleights of hand (or mouth) in making it appear that public education is foremost on their agenda even as they proceed to attack schools. Further, leading politicians opportunistically capitalize on penchant of Americans to shout their faults from rooftops,3 and, in an age of television and global communication, politicians can transmit their anti-public school campaigns to nation and world under guise of an abiding concern for schools. Abandoning Shared Sense of Vision and Mission The idea of progress is native to American experience. …