...and thus we mourn the passing of the so-called texas miracle, as if we hadn't already noticed [tortured metaphor time] that this anencephalic program had been on life support since its (mis)conception. and all the while george bush had been busy telling us that the experts were wrong and he, no one's idea of an intellectual, was going to make it strong, healthy, vital and smart through "accountability," also known as "being charismatic, telling people what they want to hear, and lying when necessary." talk about a faith-based program.

well, like most faith-healers, the texas educational miracle doesn't do well when confronted with actual facts. like this one: houston schools, the shining star of the strict accountability program, had been falsifying data for years in order to make it appear that students transferred to other schools rather than simply dropping out. what happens in reality (as any good ed14 student will tell you) is that schools in texas look better because high-stakes programming forces the students who need services the most out. the article i've linked to notes the rather interesting fact that one houston high school (a star, before this scandal) rountinely reported 1,000 freshmen, 300 seniors and 0 dropouts. now that's interesting (where by "interesting" i mean "wholly unbelievable").

pity the kids who grow up in such a place. that is, as i said, pity the ones who might actually rely on their public education as a path toward upward mobility -- not, for example, the george w. bushes of today, whose parents can buy their children into any prep school they see fit.

all of this leaves me wondering who, exactly, benefits from education reform in texas. certainly not teachers, who have lost any ability they might have had to teach children in novel and engaging ways; certainly not the poor and at-risk students (who also happen to be disproportionately students of color) who were supposed to be "leveled up" with the advent of reform. it seems, in fact, that the people who benefit most here are those who haven't any real experience with the public schools, the pundits and policy people who invented an educational system based, it seems, on the market. what is the public-school equivalent of a capitalist system with no social safety net? just a little ironically, it's called No Child Left Behind.

like alexander, maybe i'll move to australia.