Bring in Da Noise

In reading the article, Bring in Da Noise, Bring in DuBois: Infusing an African-American Educational Ideology into the Urban Discourse, I found the message to be clear: educational reform is needed. Not educational reform like the No Child Left Behind Act, but real educational reform that allows all students, regardless of race, to be given access to the same quality education. As a student teacher in the 1990s in an inner city middle school in Minneaoplis, I was appalled and angered by the lack of resources these children were given. When I walked into the classroom, I noticed that there were not even enough desks or chairs, not enough books for the students to learn, and they were packed forty in a classroom with no windows or adequate room. This to me was a disgrace, and could see from the faces of many of the students that were in the class that they agreed with me. From their perspective, it was clear that the educational system didn't care for them.

Which led me to the article recently published in the Atlantic Monthly by Matt Miller, titled First Kill All The School Boards. In order to eradicate failing schools, we must first eradicate school boards. In his article, he looked specifically at other countries that educational systems thrived and so did the students. He found that in these schools, they trained their teachers as well as they trained their military, and clearly believed in the importance of a good education. They also had national standards that everyone followed which added to consistency in all curricular areas regardless of what school students went to. We live in a nation that should be able to grant the best education for ALL students, and yet we are still mediocre at best. My question to you is why are we so behind compared to other countries?