History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
STEM Sell: Are math, science really more important than other subjects?
- 02-17-2011
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Guest blog by Alfie Kohn/Washington Post
What’s the single most alarming educational crisis today? That’s easy. It’s our failure to pay more attention to the academic field of whichever educator happens to be speaking at the moment. Just listen, then, and learn that while there may be other problems, too, the truly urgent issue these days is that we’re just not investing in math and science instruction the way we should be -- with predictably dismaying results. No, it’s that kids are outrageously ignorant about history, a subject that ought to be, but never is, a priority. No, it’s that even in high school, students still can’t write a coherent paragraph. No, the real emergency is that reading skills are far from what they should be. No, it’s that music and the arts are shamefully neglected in our schools. And so on. Now there may be some truth to all of these assertions, and the overarching tragedy is our failure to commit to -- and adequately fund -- education itself. (more...)
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