Reform advocates (especially rookies) periodically call for the education system to be “blown up.” The old hands smile, or grimace.

Education is Big

Most calls to "blow up" the education system generally paint over the question of scale. Perhaps because classrooms are small, it is hard to internalize the reality that America’s education system is big. Really, really big. Giant, actually. In rough numbers, the census counts nearly 10 million students just in preschool and kindergarten. About 50 million more attend grades 1 through 12. Another 20 million or so are enrolled in college or graduate education. Just in the K-12 grades, America employs approximately 3.6 million teachers, and spends well over half a trillion dollars per year. These are big numbers, certainly. But are they bigger than other big things in America? For example:

• Q1: Which does America have more of: teachers or soldiers?
• Q2: Does America have more schools or Starbucks?

Roughly a quarter of America's population is currently enrolled in school.

The answers are not close. America has far more teachers than soldiers, even if you count teachers sparingly and soldiers generously. There are about ten schools for every Starbucks.

Big systems don't change quickly - at least not without destructive consequences.

Change Is Inevitable

Nevertheless, if there is consensus about anything in education, it is that change is both necessary and inevitable. Many classrooms still look about like they did fifty years ago. Is it really imaginable that 50 years hence students will still sit in rows, doing the same workbooks at the same time? In an age of ubiquitous computing, online classes, and personalized learning, what is the future size of the market for #2 pencils? Today, the world’s best teachers of many subjects are only a click away. When student's want to know someting, they Goodle it. When the want to do something, they turn to YouTube Isn't it self-evident that change is in the air?

Public education has changed more over time than most people realize, or at least acknowledge. Lesson 1.7 discusses some of the major themes of the last 100 years of education change in America, particularly the developing ideal of "universal" education. The challenge, of course, is that big ideas and major changes take time to unfold. Kids grow up waiting on the world to change, including the world of school.

Systems Resist Change

There are many obstacles to change in education, including policy inertia, organizational inertia and "people" inertia.

Policy inertia. Many aspects of education are governed by detailed laws, for reasons good and bad. The workings of governments tend to be slow, and movements toward change in one area can be blocked by opposition in another. In 2009, policy gridlock in California had become so frustrating that a movement led by the Bay Area Council called for a California Constitutional Convention. The basic idea was to provoke a bold rethinking of the policy apparatus of the state. A related suggestion "in the mix" at the time called for the entire California education code to be scheduled to “sunset” over a period of years. The idea earned a brief vogue with the support of the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence.

Organizational inertia. The "ecosystem" of education includes many participants with different perspectives, such as teachers, parents, students, businesses and taxpayers. Changes that require policy action must survive the policy process. Even at the nominal "end" of a policy decision process, changes only affect students to the extent that they are carried out.

"People" inertia. A new set of standards does not automatically change lesson plans, or the materials a teacher uses to explain an idea to students. Just because a teacher receives a new computer does not mean that he or she wants to use it, or knows how. In many schools, teachers feel that they are expected to work miracles with nothing but dry markers and charm; they are naturally disposed to proceed with caution when presented with the latest shiny idea. Especially during a pandemic, transitioning from a tried and true classroom to distanced learning can be difficult for educators.

The next two lessons examine two competing ideas about the role of resources in education change. Would efforts for change be better served by massive investment, or by a tightened belt?

Updated July 2021