One Resignation, Two New Leaders, Three Reasons to Be Troubled

Last week Teach For America (TFA) founder and CEO Wendy Kopp resigned, er, promoted herself out of her CEO position with TFA and to the char of the board, replacing education expert biographer Walter Isaacson (known recently for penning the life story of Apple CEO Steve Jobs).  Kopp will, according to the press release, also continue to serve as CEO of Teach For All – the international spin off version of the domestic TFA.  Replacing Kopp at the helm of TFA will be Matt Kramer (formerly the President) and Elisa Villanueva (formerly the Chief Operating Officer).

I focus here on Kramer’s role in the future of TFA as he, compared to Villanueva, has more experience as a leader of TFA as the former President.  Kramer began his leadership stint within TFA after serving at McKinsey & Company (business and finance consulting).  Additionally, Kramer serves as the lead of TFA’s lobbying arm Leadership for Educational Equity, which seeks to assist TFA alumnae with political campaigns via webhosting and donations.  And while Wendy Kopp certainly has no background in education (a point which made Steven Colbert break character exhibiting a chuckle) there are three concerns, (1) the rise of non-education “experts” in education policy; (2) the disposition of business minded individuals operating within democratic spaces; and (3) viewing human capital as replaceable cogs whether they do good or cause problems.

The rise of non-education “experts” in education policy is a point that has been exercised by others.  And, as stated, while the previous leadership of TFA was no closer to the classroom in terms of practicum, the new leadership is further away in terms of educational dispositions.  In other words, a business model treats individuals as numbers, units, and thus… as replaceable cogs, rather than celebrating individuality.  Workers are to submit and work relentlessly (a phrase TFA prides itself on) towards a prescribed goal…in the case of corporate education reform, that goal is increased test scores.  Moreover, requiring workers (in this case teachers) to work without regard to their own wellbeing requires a repertoire of others who can replace the fallen.  In fact, the founders of KIPP acknowledge that a teacher in their schools could not sustain the level of requirements demanded and thus rely on “fresh blood” provided by TFA (see, for example, Horn, 2011; and Lack, 2011).

Matt Kramer’s rise to the top of TFA highlights the ever increasingly changing goal of the organization.  That is, starting with the goal of filling vacant teaching positions with the “best and brightest” has now fully morphed into an organization that is proud to say that teaching is not the ends, rather, the means.  The goal is to produce corps members who, having pedagogical training only at the hands of TFA, teach for two years, leave as “education experts” who will then take over the reigns – or create them via charters or non-profits – of organizations that seek to further implement myopic educational reforms of “no excuses,” blaming teachers, and testing as an indication of learning and subsequent worth.  If you’ve only ever known one way of perceiving and engaging with the world you will continue to champion that way as appropriate.  As corps members rise through the proverbial ranks of education reform having accepted TFA’s business model, there will be less room for democratic spaces that treat teachers and students as humans within education.  TFA’s insistence on leading the education reform movement with business-minded frameworks will certainly only further exacerbate the subversion of democracy in education in favor of what is most efficient and profitable.

By T. Jameson Brewer

References

Horn, J. (2011). Corporatism, KIPP, and cultural eugenics. In P. E. Kovacs (Ed.), The Gates Foundation and the future of U.S. "Public" schools (pp. 80-103). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lack, B. (2011). Anti-democratic militaristic education: An overview and critical analysis of KIPP schools. In R. Ahlquist, P. C. Gorski & T. Montano (Eds.), Assault on kids: How hyper-accountability, corporatization, deficit ideologies, and Ruby Payne are destroying our schools (pp. 65-90). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Black Parents and Education in South African Schools

In Race Ethnicity and Education journal

The dismantling of apartheid in 1994 brought an array of democratic changes in South Africa, including changes in curriculum and educational policies. One of the most momentous changes was the desegregation of public schools. While this was significant in South African education politics, it presented some educational challenges, especially to Black and poor children in the township neighborhoods. This article examines Black parents’ perceptions of two major challenges that threaten education transformation in this new democracy: racism in formerly White-only schools and insufficient resources in township schools. It draws on an in-depth qualitative study with the parents of Black students, examining their “common sense” about the desegregated public schools. Based on the findings, I make a claim that parents have clear and informed opinions about the education of their children. They are aware of the lack of resources in township schools and of racism in formerly White-only schools. They make different choices for their children and articulate the reasons for their choice; they articulate a nuanced grasp of the complexities affecting their choice as they respond to these opposing educational problems.

Most previous studies of parents have shown that upper and upper middle-class parents often get better educational opportunities for their children because of their cultural capital and abilities to relate to or negotiate social structures, including schools (for example, Ball (2003); Ball, Bowe, and Gewirtz (1994); Bourdieu (1984); Ciabattari (2010); Gillborn and Youdell (2000); Lareau (1989); Lauder and Hughes (1999)). Most of these studies have suggested that wealthy parents are most likely to understand the intricacies of their children’s education. I believe these are insightful and significant studies, with which I also agree. However, this study shows that working class parents are also sophisticated about these issues. My sample was a mix of working-class and middle-class parents and all were aware of the minute practices of racism and the details of educational resources. Both middle and working class parents seem to know that all policies have hidden effects and have been able to read the current situation very well. None of these parents are unaware of the continuing educational inequalities in post-apartheid South Africa.

This article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2011.618832

By: Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, Ph.D.

Study examines whether it really does "get better" for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth

Forum fellow Joseph Robinson recently published a study in Pediatrics:

Young people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) tend to experience higher rates of bullying. The study, “Developmental Trends in Peer Victimization and Emotional Distress in LGB and Heterosexual Youth,” in the March 2013 Pediatrics (published online Feb. 4), collected data from adolescents and young people in England over a seven-year period to examine how rates of bullying change as adolescents grow older, and what effect bullying has on their emotional distress. On average, bullying of LGB youth declined significantly as they left high school. For example, 57 percent of lesbian or bisexual girls reported being bullied at age 13 or 14, compared to 6 percent at age 20 or 21. Among boys, the bullying declined from 52 percent to 9 percent over the same time period. However, compared to heterosexual peers, LGB boys and girls were about twice as likely to be bullied throughout high school. After high school, lesbian or bisexual girls were no more likely to be bullied than heterosexual girls; gay or bisexual boys’ likelihood of being bullied actually increased after high school compared to heterosexual boys. The study authors found that LGB youth demonstrated significantly higher levels of emotional distress than their heterosexual-identified peers  -- only some of which can be attributed to bullying. The findings suggest the answer to “does it get better?” is nuanced and depends on whether one looks at absolute or relative levels of victimization and the interplay among age, gender and sexual identity.

The study can be found here.