Member-only story
We are having the wrong conversation about education
Like many complex problems, the education crisis is not going to be a one solution, one policy, or even a one generation answer.
As it should be, education is again being debated. From the legislative session, to fed up parents, very frustrated teachers, and a generation of students who went through Covid-19 education interruptions and now have gaping deficiencies because of it, everyone wants answers when it comes to bettering education.
The problem is, all those diverse groups with a stake in education and legitimate gripes about how it is currently conducted aren’t even asking the same questions, let alone coming to a consensus on answers.
It seems that even a common agreement about what “education” should be is unattainable at the moment. Covid-19 policies and fallout gave students the impression that their actual education was somewhere far down the list of priorities once a crisis hit. Actions, not rhetoric, revealed that far too many folks saw public education as a giant jobs program for educators and the government, and the primary daycare for parents. The actual learning by the children was somewhere off in the distance.
