Why This Year's Midterm Election Is So Important For Education #edchat

We are just one week away from the midterm elections and I wish to spend just a little bit of time today in this post to flush out why this midterm election season is so important for education. True, midterm elections are never as sexy or sensational as the years we have to decide on a president but a very strong case could be made for why this midterm election should weigh at least as heavily on our conscious. This year there are are gubernatorial races in thirty-seven states and two territories. Most of these are open seats.

United States gubernatorial elections, 2010 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia via kwout

I don't think most people understand the weight the people who will fill these positions will carry with regards to public education. One can think of a Governor as sort of the superintendent of all schools in a state. They get to decide who the commissioners are in the state departments of education. They get to set the agenda for legislation regarding education including school funding. They have veto power for all state-level education policies. Plus, as the chief individual in charge of the public trust and Education spending in most states being one of the top two categories of state spending when you hire someone to serve as your governor they better understand education issues (By the way, we have seen steady growth in Health and Human Services spending and I believe the 08-09 report is the first time in MN I have seen it eclipse education spending).

So, who we elect, what their views on education are, and who they surround themselves with matter greatly. With a solid majority of our states governor seats up for grabs next week the outcome of those races will largely determine the path we take with education reform. What we need to be asking these candidates and what I believe every person (and educators in particular) is how they plan to deal with the budget issues caused by having a disproportionate number of teachers at the top of the pay scale, what they plan on doing by the end of their first term when we will have a projected massive shortage of teachers when this group retires,

how do they plan on dealing with issues of equity in education,


and what purpose does public education serve.



Which of these candidates in Minnesota sound like they have thoroughly thought about these issues, what about candidates in other states?

Is the Superman metaphor appropriate for school reform?

Image by Digital_Rampage

This fall the Heritage Foundation funded film Waiting for Superman will hit theaters. The film explores the school reform movement currently underway in this country. It is already getting some Oscar buzz. I have not seen the film yet so it would be unfair of me to prejudge it but I suspect it will not present a very comprehensive or necessarily accurate picture of the problems our school system faces. I worry that through the highly effective rhetorical devices film provides that this documentary will only serve as highly effective propaganda for the Heritage Foundation to push blindly their agenda of corporatizing our nation's schools, narrowing the curriculum, and devaluing comprehensive education in the name of equity. The September 24th release date suggests to me that the film will be used to sway voters in the fall mid-term election. This year's election season is especially important nation-wide for education policy issues since education is primarily a state issue and this year 37 states are holding gubernatorial elections.


The metaphor of "Superman" as the model for school reform strikes me as inappropriate and particularly dangerous to the future of our schools. Yes, I do believe that the education system needs some serious fixing but I think the idea of a school reform "Superman" is not the way to go about it. School change and school reform takes time, it must come from the people, it must address the needs of all students, and it must be equitable. The "Waiting for Superman" metaphor suggests that these are problems not fixable or addressable by us the common people, the common teachers, parents, and community members but requires someone powerful from the outside to come in and fix it for us. In the context of education this is a dangerous notion, it goes against what we know about learning, it removes agency from the learner, and reinforces a concept of external imposition of curriculum, pedagogy, standards, and control as what is needed to improve schools.

Last night when this notion occurred to me I set out on Twitter to flush this thought out. What follows is an archive of those Tweets:

Thinking about how awfully poor a choice Superman is as the metaphor for school reform. Shall we deconstruct? We shall...less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

Superman was born from ruling class parents on a dying planet therefore this metaphor suggests that our Ed Superman must have silver spoons.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

Superman views the world in terms of good and evil, little room for grey areas. Our Ed Superman then will view things on these simple terms.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj You going to make a good and evil list?less than a minute ago via webweemooseus
weemooseus

Superman is a champion for the ruling class, doesn't stick up 4 the little guy or those oppressed in the world. In fact, he finds them evil.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

check out @anderscj tweets about the symbolism of superman re: waiting for superman the movie about the crisis in educationless than a minute ago via webamanda enclade
aenclade

Superman, being from another planet, is an outsider. Use of this metaphor suggests poor are incapable of helping themselves & need outsider.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

Superman was raised on a farm with "good Midwestern values" suggests we need to impose those values on urban communities.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj Alright, you might be stretching it now... I was with you for a while!less than a minute ago via webCory Roush
coryroush

@coryroush really? I thought that was one of the more spot-on comparisons.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj @coryroush Your conversations are very strange... but interesting to read none-the-less! ;-)less than a minute ago via TweetDeckJamie F
fiteach

Superman lives among us in disguise, presenting a false facade as Clark Kent Superman is a liar and deceives people about who he really is.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

What flaws in the Superman metaphor am I missing?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj He lives in the Fortress of Solitude.less than a minute ago via Tweetie for MacMichelle Baldwin
michellek107

@michellek107 good one!less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj flaws in the Superman metaphor - there aren't any phone booths anymore to change into suit and cape.less than a minute ago via webDan McGuire
sabier

@sabier Ha! I do know of one though. It is actually around the corner from the Ed Dept. offices at Hamline University.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

Here is a picture of it:

The booth is there but there is no phone in it.

@anderscj It's too late for me to take that one where I might g'nite!less than a minute ago via webDan McGuire
sabier

@anderscj Got to be something about kryptonite in your deconstructionless than a minute ago via Snaptu.comDerek Moore
weblearning

@weblearning I was thinking that too, how do we work it in?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj Something 'bout kryptonite is the only threat to his strategic plans while the real world deals with budget cuts, inefficiency etcless than a minute ago via Snaptu.comDerek Moore
weblearning

@weblearning like it, so what is Superman the Ed Reformer's kryptonite?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj Hard to answer that in a US context. Here in ZA kryptonite wd include unions, ed department, capacity, curriculum reforms. #Bleakless than a minute ago via Snaptu.comDerek Moore
weblearning

@weblearning I was thinking this morning that kryptonite might refer to something in Superman's past, an Inconvenient Truth.less than a minute ago via webanderscj
anderscj

Moniker of "caped crusader" suggests the use of aggression & violence to impose an ideology.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj Batman is the Caped Crusader!less than a minute ago via webCory Roush
coryroush

@coryroush oh right, my mistake, Superman is the man of steel. Suggests he is inflexible.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

@anderscj Okay, that was a good one.less than a minute ago via webCory Roush
coryroush

Membership in a group called the "Justice League" suggests Superman passes his own judgement on others and in doing so is above the law.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

Superman acts on the behalf of those who never ask him to act on their behalf.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
anderscj

So, what else would you add to this list? Is the Superman metaphor appropriate?

9 Year Old Uses Halloween Costume To Poll His Neighbors on the Presidential Election

I came across this clip on CNN today of a 9 year old with a clever election related costume.



I wonder if he encountered any election fraud or hanging chads.

How Technology Has Shaped This Election