Déjà Vu for Administrators?

Image: Stockbyte/Artville W HEN THE National Commission on Excellence in Education submitted A Nation at Risk to Secretary of Education Terrel Bell on 26 April 1983, there was little to suggest that this report would shine a spotlight on education that would last a quarter of a century. Indeed, not long after the release of this document, critics were already downplaying its recommendations. “The truth is,” wrote one, “that the public schools are doing the job well, the product is viable, and the public is receiving what they need from the schools.” It was only natural for educators to defend their practice and their profession. Since the shock of Sputnik in 1957, the education establishment had apparently rebounded and, in the view of many Americans, had responded appropriately. Educators were clearly stung by many of the recommendations contained within A Nation at Risk. In addressing the recommendation that noneducators with subject-area expertise should be considered for teaching positions, one central office administrator responded, “Teachers know content. What they don’t know is how to be a psychologist, counselor, policeman, diplo-