Why Public Schools Don't Change

Abstract

Though the topic has always been one of importance to Americans, the decade of the 1960's saw an unprecedented output of writing focusing on the condition of American public schools. Terms such as "crisis", "demise", "collapse", or "failure" all pointed to the same message — that American public schools have not met the expectations set for them. Perhaps the major lay response to this perceived failure has been demonstrated by the persistent rejection of tax bonds and property tax increases designated for school support. It is ironic that this rejection of the schools comes after a time of unprecedented fiscal support on the local, state and federal levels. School systems have had more money to spend in the decade on architectural innovation, curriculum reform, experimental teacher training programs and decentralised school control than at any other time in the history of American public education. Yet taking stock of the efforts during the decade of the 1960's suggests that merely more of the same, only in much larger quantities, does not necessarily produce the desired results. What then has gone wrong? Why the crisis of confidence in America's "secular religion"? The answers I suggest can be found in an examination of the expectations held for public education and the structures created to fulfill those expectations.