This page is named for the Sandy River Railroad junction that dominated my front yard a century ago. All that's left is a berm, some cinders, pictures, and this name on the map. The railroad was built when literacy in this country was reportedly very high, but compulsory schooling was only a new idea. An old one-room school still stands back through the woods. As central schools came to dominate children's lives, functional literacy steadily dropped to the low 80s (or lower by some measures). Here, more schooled is not always more skilled. What has bloomed, though, is alienation from community, family, and self.

Most writings posted here are the works of others, borrowed from various books and web sites. I reproduce them as offerings for friends also interested in exploring new...or more often old...directions in education. Occasionally, something of my own makes its way here too, with apologies.

02 August 2010

You have two choices...

This was a posting on the Parents United for Responsible Education web site (linked above):

Arne the Horrible?

I used to read Old Norse sagas when I was in graduate school, and one of my favorite quotes from the old Viking marauders was, "You have one of two choices," which usually meant that you either surrendered immediately or you got cloven in two with a great big sword (which usually had a name like "The Biter").

Well, we may have to begin calling Fed Ed Head Duncan "Arne the Horrible" - he seems to be giving us only one of two choices.

Either we accept his privatization plans with more charters and testing, or we get stuck with the "status quo."

This sounds so much like the choices Paul Vallas gave us: social promotion or retention, standardized test or "no accountability."

If these guys are so smart, why can't they think of more than two things? How about three choices, guys? How about your idea, the old way, and something that might actually work?
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