Those darn white women, their so-called "brilliant" kids, and the wonders of the U. Chicago Lab Schools

In Michigan, education "reform" is driven primarily by the political "right" -- a collusion of those who see the mythical private market place as the solution to all problems, those who see a chance to destroy a long hated political scapegoat and actual foe (public schools and teacher unions), those who see a quick way to make a buck in a "new" market bubble ("charters"!) before it bursts (not enough kids :(, not enough state money to sustain the bubble long :( ), and a Governor who is technically a Republican but who more routinely  proffers himself  as "one tough Nerd."

As a "nerd," Snyder is -- like many nerds, including this literary nerd -- easily captivated by popular and emerging ideas in a given field. In Governor Nerd's case, the ideas that seize all his current attention are managerial, such as Professor Clay Christensen's notion of "disruptive innovation."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation

Public Schools, you could say, have been "disrupted" here and elsewhere because this idea -- if not the results it produces -- seem just so cool.

Whether you consider this innovation positive or negative depends on your perspective. If you are a parent "disruption" of any kind is usually not well received as you live in a state, more or less, of disruption and really don't need anymore artificially imposed upon you...particularly from the Harvard Business School.

The Nerd's (not the Republican) position on all this does give us clues to education reform on a national scale.

Nationally, education reform is more of a bi-partisan problem, with different strains of influence, beginning with the Race to the Topper himself, President Obama, and his long time friend and ally via the Chicago to Harvard "see you on the basketball court" circuit Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

One is continually reminded of this strange political cross infection... the virus.

At the national level, education reform as pushed by Duncan does not derive from a Michigan Republican/ Tea Party style hatred of teachers and teacher unions, but from a breathtakingly elitist and "limousine liberal" arrogance.

This weekend Secretary Duncan said resistance to his efforts at reform came from "white suburban moms" who don't like to be shown their kids aren't  "brilliant."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mercedes-schneider/arne-duncan-reform_b_4293803.html?utm_hp_ref=politi...

Now this is more than a bit political clumsy on Duncan's part.

But let's put aside the sexism here, the suggestion that those poor little spoiled moms from places like Bloomfield not only don't know what they are talking about in terms of their own children's education but that they are also delusional about their kids' abilities. (Most moms, even white suburban moms in places like Bloomfield, know full well the limitations of their own children and work like crazy to minimize those limitations while advocating as best they can...). And let's put aside, for a second, the foray in to racial politics. What does Duncan mean by "white"? Is he thinking of South Asians, for example? "Mixed" families.

Don't know.

I want to put those concerns on hold for a moment because it is my sense that Duncan's thoughts here derive not so much from a deep abiding sexism (although that may be there) but, simply put, from his love of charters.

Why does Duncan love Charters?

Duncan loves Charters because he sees them as extrapolations of his loving home at the University of Chicago Lab School. The Lab school, as most know, is one of the top prep schools in the country, if not the world, an Ivy feeder if there ever was one, a place where U. of Chicago faculty children (like little Arne) are oh so carefully mixed with more traditionally "urban" kids under the careful watch of university affiliated teachers and researchers.

If, for example, your child has been through a "play-based" pre-school curriculum or had some sort of "multi-cultural" exposure in school you can thank, mainly, the lab school's Vivian Paley. She brilliantly popularized research that showed young children learn, first, through play and that multi-cultural settings foster learning even at a young age.

In short, little Arne came from an ideal American educational setting (John Dewey, for God's sakes!)...neither public nor private but in that perfect place in between. At the lab school you have the best of all worlds. Money. Culture. Extraordinary academic environment.

AND you have a protected urban setting where it is quite easy to look down (or in the case of Chicago, north) on your "suburban" peers and say," you poor, rich, white people. I am smarter than you AND I am here with people of color, too. You really should not be scared of the city. Embrace the world!"

Take it from someone who knows snotty academia, the Chicago way: this is a snotty academic's dream.

Little Arne leaped (literally and figuratively, as he was a star basketball player) to Harvard where he studied, of course, sociology. STEM is for other people's children. His first job was in Australia as a pro-basketball player. From there, he returned to "play" school -- literally and figuratively again -- with his Mom who had set up and after school program affiliated with a lab school. We could let a thousand Chicago Lab Schools bloom! One more big step: from there Chicago and Harvard pal President Obama helped make him (under the auspices of Democratic leader then Mayor Richie Daley) Superintendent of Chicago Schools, then Secretary of Education.

In brief, Duncan has never applied for a job in his life, but he is quite comfortable telling anxious parents who know the global competition their children will face by not coming out of the Chicago Lab School and Harvard what hard realities they need to know.

Duncan on education makes one think of people one doesn't necessarily like but who utter truisms nonetheless. Sarah Palin's best line about President Obama was, "I am a small town mayor...that's like a community organizer with actual responsibilities." Or, to flip political sides, one thinks of the late, great Coleman Young (apocryphal, I'm sure) snapping at Jesse Jackson: "He is a politician who has never been elected and a preacher who has never had a parish."

Limousine liberal arrogance, pure and simple. Mix in Michigan and other places and education reform is an amalgam of our worst political impulses.

Duncan's "Chicago Lab School" understanding of charters is pervasive.

I listened to a fine and engaged talk this weekend by Michigan Board of Education member Casandra Ulbrich given at the Bloomfield Twp. Library (mostly, but not entirely, "white" moms and grandmothers).  During a  discussion of charter schools "sponsored" by universities, one audience member asked about the oversight a university has in relation to charter schools it sponsors.

The question was logical.

Most assume that when a university enters into a intra-local agreement with a charter that some version of the Chicago Lab School is underway. But that is not the case at all. In most Charter arrangements, including the EAA's intra-local agreement with Eastern Michigan University, university faculty have ZERO involvement. Indeed, EMU faculty are petitioning their administration right now to end the university's involvement with the EAA -- Governor Snyder's grand idea to reform all struggling schools with visions of the Chicago Lab School dancing in his head.http://www.freep.com/article/20131118/NEWS05/311180015/eastern-michigan-university-education-achieve...

The University of Chicago Lab School is a marvel. As such, it is not a model one can replicate unless one is willing to create, first, a world class university and, second, place it in the heart of a complicated section of a world class city.

Til then, trust the moms and dads and local communities a bit. Trust me, they know how competitive it is out in the real world when taking on Chicago Lab School and Harvard Grads.