HCZ revisited

Response to "Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Problems" by By SHARON OTTERMAN. New York Times online. Published: October 12, 2010

Continuing my (and the media's) interest in the Harlem children's zone, this article actually demonstrates what I believe is seriously difficult about pursuing any educational reform. Policy analysts, academics and the media are extremely quick to criticize new ideas. I mean, it is what we are trained to do. In this case, the schools are criticized for not having produced extreme advances in learning. Additionally, there is discussion of the Brookings Institute paper suggesting that there is no conclusive proof that the social policy elements are tied to the advancements in student learning.

"But back home and out of the spotlight, Mr. Canada and his charter schools have struggled with the same difficulties faced by other urban schools, even as they outspend them." (Otteram). With this quotation, we come back to what always seems to be the central issue in policy circles: the ever central question of whether money matters, and if so how is most widely spent. I would argue that while money is what allows Canada to undertake this project on the massive scale he is working with, the focus at this stage should be less on what he is spending and more on the model he is testing.

It seems that the Brookings Institute report is not so much trying to argue that the social interventions are unnecessary, but that the funding for scaling them up should perhaps not come out of the federal budget for education. I think that is a valid point. However, if it does appear over time that shoring up the institutions around the school make learning within the school easier, the government will need to work harder to change those factors and relieve some of the burden on schools in struggling neighborhoods. This of course is one of the soapboxes upon which I currently stand.

My opinion of the critique on Canada is that Canada should simply ignore it and persevere in this social experiment. Only by trying these things over the medium and long-term will we be able to push the debate along.