Making It Different: Education, Equity, Economy

Abstract

In this chapter we lay out a new conceptual framework for thinking about school reform that emerges from linking together education, equity and economy We note that while education continues to be championed as the gateway to future success, it has been largely fueled by growing demands from Business that workers be trained by public monies to fit their model of work and production; their success in this venture is reflected by the fact that corporate interests have largely driven wave after wave of education reforms over the last 35 years, albeit with little to show, except a new level of denigration and politicization. Thus, we argue that any change in economic futures, and specifically any change that restores a viable linkage between education and economy, now must also be tied to equity. We note that this rethinking and reconfiguring of the intersection of education, equity and economy has not happened to date. While there is much work in education and equity, and on education and economy, there is far less on economy and equity. Missing is working the three together. In this chapter we argue that to drop one from the equation makes the subsequent analysis less robust and powerful than when all three lenses are brought together into a sharp focus. Our goal is to lay out a framework for this new analysis, and to suggest an agenda for future research.