Are we heading toward a period of time where we just basically say that wide variance in American schooling is unavoidable or the least bad option? That’s what I ask in a U.S. News & World Report column:
For the past several years, economic inequality grabbed headlines, sparked protests and spurred Americans to ask hard questions about the structure of opportunity in our society. In the wake of Baltimore, North Charleston, Ferguson, Cleveland and other episodes, the conversation and attention of protesters is giving way to an even more immediate concern about disparate treatment of Americans by law enforcement based on their race. That, too, is another kind of structural inequality. Here in the education sector people are quick to identify with the protesters and the issues they raise yet there is an inescapable and uncomfortable dissonance: Attacking inequality is at the forefront of our national conversation, but in American education we are actually becoming more accepting of it as a fact of life.
Read the entire column here – we strike a tiny blow against inequality by making it open access for all. The column today is part of a new weekly USN product called The Report, be sure to check it out while you’re there. Let me know what you think via Twitter.