Set Our Teachers FREE!

WOW! I just finished reading and rereading an article about urban schools by Dr. Martin Haberman, entitled “Unemployment Training (The Ideology of Non-Work Learned in Urban Schools)”.. Dr. Haberman, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin, has a list of credentials that are impressive. He is also a columnist and Board Advisor for EdNews.org, which rightly claims to be “The Internet’s #1 Source for Education News and Information”.

The article is shocking, and will no doubt be controversial, but I would like to share it with you, because his comments are so much in alignment with the experiences of my husband during his years of teaching. Both Don and I feel that Dr. Haberman’s article needs broader circulation. His criticisms and claims pinpoint some of the reasons that our schools are failing so miserably.

Shockingly, Dr. Haberman’s ABSTRACT starts right out swinging hard and pulling no punches:

“The dropout problem among urban youth–as catastrophic as it is–is less detrimental than remaining in school and being trained for unemployment.”

Through the article, the author lists 15 unofficial topics that he claims are the core curricula being taught in urban and large city schools. He also lists implications for what these “lessons” mean to future workers/graduates of these institutions. Finally, he gives brief suggestions for what can be done to change.

Since the article, while extremely well-written, and well-worth reading, is very lengthy, I’d like to continue tomorrow with some comments on what is sure to become a controversial paper.

Until tomorrow!
Brennan

Filed under: Education Reform