GUEST POST: What the Baltimore Sun Won’t Publish
by Chalk Face, PhD
The following is a “readers response” I sent to the Baltimore Sun in response to a commentary posted in the newspaper. Sadly I have had no reply. I am not holding my breath. Silence and ignorance are tools of the oppressive reform movement. Informed community members are a danger to their efforts.
Lost in Translation: A response to “Six Steps for Post-Alonso School Reform”
In their commentary (May 14th, 2013, p.17) called Six Steps for Post-Alonso School Reform regarding the future of education reform in Baltimore City, T. Wilcox, D. Bell-McKoy and L. Gamble use many lofty and idealistic sounding words to promote their vision. However, it bears noting that education “reformers” are well-versed in using terms that have an appeal, yet bear little substance. Its part the script to sell the public on a model for education that actually requires a deeper analysis and understanding. Words like “choice” and “accountability” have done for the corporate-model of education reform what buzz words like “whole grain” and “real fruit juice” have done for the food processing industry. Thus, commentaries such as this warrant a translation. My translation as follows is not grounded in empty rhetoric or phrases, but instead relies on facts and examples from other urban areas, to predict what such school, reform may indeed come to look like in Baltimore. The question will then remain: are we willing to buy this model? Or
