Catching the governance-reform fever

The only prescription is more cowbell
(Photo by JD Hancock)

Education-policy wonks have been known to “talk shop” while sipping Manhattans at a Friday happy hour. The conversation sometimes drifts to teacher evaluations, other times to common standards and assessments. But rarely—outside of Fordham circles, at least—does it flirt with education-governance reform: The topic just isn’t sexy enough. Thankfully, this may yet be changing; our base of allies, disillusioned by America’s current brand of local control, growing. In the latest Wilson Quarterly, Ed Sector co-founder Tom Toch explains our current governance predicament and how we got to this place—all while framing an important question: While “the record of the past three decades does not inspire great confidence in the capacity of school boards to lead public education,” as Toch writes, who should take the helm? We’ve been noodling this ourselves of late and we welcome you to the table, Tom. Shall we fix you a drink? Others, you’re welcome to join our merry band of those malcontent with our dysfunctional governance arrangements.