By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER Washington State Director
For legislators, policy-makers, and educators in Washington State, the terms “innovation” and “innovative schools” have become the equivalent of the yellow brick road in the movie, The Wizard of Oz.
Struggling to find a way out of a public education-funding morass exacerbated by the current economic situation, state leaders are increasingly latching on to “innovation” as the buzzword for all that ails public education in the Evergreen State. Nudged and encouraged by education union leaders, the Principals’ Association, and the School Board Directors’ Organization – collectively representing more than 110,000 members – even the candidates for governor are tripping down the yellow brick road of innovative schools.
Jay Inslee (D) and Rob McKenna (R) are acutely aware of recent state political history where governors scrape into office with minuscule margins. As a result, their respective campaign strategies, particularly around public education, are long on rhetoric and short on specifics, offending as few voters as possible. As an example, the Washington Education Association (WEA) represents slightly over 81,000 educators – or 1 in 44 voters across the state. For Democrat Inslee, staying on the politically correct side of the union when discussing education reform is the expedient thing to do.
By reframing the education reform message to highlight “innovation” and “innovative schools” the strategists behind this tactic are doubling-down on the hope that Washington voters will be distracted from a charter school initiative heading for the November 2012 ballot.
Promoters of innovative schools argue their case around two core themes. First, Washington voters have rejected charter schools on three separate occasions. Second, schools tagged as innovative are already filling opportunity and achievement gaps in school districts around the state.
However, like The Wizard of Oz, this particular yellow brick road also leads to disappointment and disillusion once one reaches the Emerald City and pulls back the curtain.