The Best Education Reform? Fix Gerrymandering

If Congress fails to get a No Child Left Behind overhaul done again this year, don’t blame special interests, reformers, the administration, or the complexity first. The process is working, it’s just broken. I take a look at that in U.S. News & World Report:

One of the interesting things about my job is that wealthy people ask me for ideas about how best to use their resources to improve America’s schools. There are plenty of important issues demanding attention: overhauling the sorry state of teacher preparation and teacher policy (I wrote an entire guidebook about that), giving low-income Americans more educational choice and improving educational finance are three obvious ones. But, to the consternation of colleagues in the education world, I don’t first suggest those or other specific education issues. Instead, I urge donors to support efforts to reform congressional redistricting. We won’t be able to genuinely improve our schools (or address a host of other issues) until we create legislative districts based on geography rather than gerrymandering.

I guarantee a comfortable margin of victory if you click and read the entire column here.  The column presupposes that Congress can do useful things, if that makes you think I should be redistricted then tell me on Twitter @arotherham.

2 Replies to “The Best Education Reform? Fix Gerrymandering”

  1. Hello, I am a graduate student at the University of Walden. I just wrote a paper about the effects of NCLB. The issues with the act, for it is created for middle-class standards when schools that are low-income or inner-city are having a tougher time. The inner city schools need the money but the programs that go along with NCLB do not help the inner city students who might be homeless, broken family situations, in poverty, or not know both their parents.
    We are discussing in class about how as teachers it is very important to us to collaborate, talk, discuss the issues and act upon it. I was wondering what your take is about how we can improve the education system and what is essential to help teachers?

  2. Hi! Education is definitely in need of reform. No Child Left Behind had positives and negatives; however, it is past its expiration date. Change is necessary to meet the needs of today’s students. This will only be possible if, as you mentioned, legislative districts are changed.

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