“Failing Public Schoolsâ€: The Consequences of the Misleading Framing of American Education Policy

Karl F. Wheatley

Abstract


Over the last 20 years, American K-12 education has been profoundly transformed to reflect the values and principles of market-based thinking. The article examines the powerful role that the “failing public schools†frame played in reducing American citizens’ faith in public education, eroding teacher autonomy, and opening the door to a range of market-based ideas previously resisted in American public education. Evidence is provided that there has been a dramatic increase in framing American public schools as “failing†since the 1990s, and that this framing of the situation is profoundly misleading. Negative practical consequences of this misleading framing of the situation are discussed, as is the way in which this framing of the situation provides a powerful obstacle to implementing superior educational practices. Practical suggestions for re-framing educational discussions are provided.


Keywords


educational reform, conceptual framing, failing schools, accountability movement, neoliberal policies

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References


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