Fed up with the term 'status quo'

Diana Senechal
"Fed up with the term ‘status quo’"
Washington Post
March 16, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/fed_up_with_the_term_status_quo/2011/03/15/ABIaf2a_blog.html?wprss=rss_educationSummary:

Topic: An interesting discussion concerning change.

This is an interesting discussion about how one side of an argument can be marginalized through the use of one term, “status quo”. The world seems to be simplistically broken down into two groups, those who want things to remain as they are and those who want change.

Key Points: Marginalizing one side of an argument with the clever use of a term, stereotype or oversimplification is a very effective tactic politically or in a debate contest. If the point is to really improve things, then an open an honest discussion between all points of view must be made. Naïve…I know.
Sadly, the point rarely seems to be about actually improving education and instead, seems to be more about who holds the political power and controls the money. Perhaps, as Gatto seems to be saying, the answer to this cancer actually is to scrap the system and start over anew.

Relevance: The debate about the future of education, public education in this case, is raging on. Trying to understand the motives behind all the sides of the debate will be key as we move ahead.