Michael Winerip Really Gets It

Great column in the Times by Michael Winerip on mayoral control and what is really important in education.

Here is my favorite part:

For five of the last 10 years, I’ve covered education. I’ve been in hundreds of schools, interviewed more children, teachers and principals than I can count. In that time, I spoke one sentence to Joel I. Klein; not one to Ms. Black; and one to Dennis M. Walcott, the man picked to be the next chancellor.

...

There are a few things you actually need to know to cover education in New York City: The mayor is considered to be a national leader in what’s called the reform movement; he believes in the educational market place, standardized tests and charter schools; and it’s almost always the union’s fault.

The one thing the last two chancellors and the presumptive chancellor have in common: They believe the very same things the mayor believes.

I don’t feel I’ve missed much by not talking to chancellors. At the moment Ms. Black resigned, I was in Harlem, touring Public School 241, whose students have been moved into the basement to make room for a charter school.

The thing I love about education — after the politicians have finished micromanaging; after the think-tank scholars have massaged the latest studies; after the scientists in the Education Department have produced data to justify almost anything — good teachers can still go into their rooms, close their doors and teach.

When the children of New York City grow up, they will not remember who the chancellor was when they were in school. They will not remember the name of the secretary of education. But until the day they die, they will remember their kindergarten teachers.

That's really well said.