Robert Pondiscio has an interesting piece out in National Affairs. Pondiscio and I sit on the opposite sides of many education issues, but I find him to be one of the more nuanced, thoughtful writers working his side of the street.
It's unlikely that we'll see the current strain of the GOP ... or what presents as conservatism - adopt any of this reasonable approach. And, time after time, after teachers and public ed advocates make deals with "reasonable" conservatives, they end up getting screwed - see TN and the end of collective bargaining, dues deduction - and, now, the rapid advance of charters and vouchers.
I also believe it's important to listen to conservative voices, however in this case I think Pondiscio could be presented as more of a right-wing voice. I don't know about his other writing so I can't comment on that, but this piece makes him sound pretty far-right to me. He talks about progressive activism in schools many times, but never defines exactly what he means, just that he doesn't want activists in schools. This brings to mind the same vague and ultimately extreme arguments people like DeSantis use to oppose reasonable (and good!) ideas like Social Emotional Learning. It's tiring to hear people on the right consistently posit themselves as conservatives while actively seeking to change institutions to favor their political beliefs. Creating a political bogeyman like "progressive activism in schools" is a far-right strategy to rally people to his side and pass laws to prevent teaching things that he doesn't like. Couching it in a principled conservative argument only allows him to refrain from stating the outcomes that he wants and avoid talking about specific subjects that he does not want people to teach. If there's one constant in the world, it's that things change. Right, left, and center recognize that, the difference is how each party responds to that change and what changes they promote and what changes they oppose.
It's unlikely that we'll see the current strain of the GOP ... or what presents as conservatism - adopt any of this reasonable approach. And, time after time, after teachers and public ed advocates make deals with "reasonable" conservatives, they end up getting screwed - see TN and the end of collective bargaining, dues deduction - and, now, the rapid advance of charters and vouchers.
I also believe it's important to listen to conservative voices, however in this case I think Pondiscio could be presented as more of a right-wing voice. I don't know about his other writing so I can't comment on that, but this piece makes him sound pretty far-right to me. He talks about progressive activism in schools many times, but never defines exactly what he means, just that he doesn't want activists in schools. This brings to mind the same vague and ultimately extreme arguments people like DeSantis use to oppose reasonable (and good!) ideas like Social Emotional Learning. It's tiring to hear people on the right consistently posit themselves as conservatives while actively seeking to change institutions to favor their political beliefs. Creating a political bogeyman like "progressive activism in schools" is a far-right strategy to rally people to his side and pass laws to prevent teaching things that he doesn't like. Couching it in a principled conservative argument only allows him to refrain from stating the outcomes that he wants and avoid talking about specific subjects that he does not want people to teach. If there's one constant in the world, it's that things change. Right, left, and center recognize that, the difference is how each party responds to that change and what changes they promote and what changes they oppose.