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22 Pol'y Stud. J. 10 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/plyssjnl22 and id is 1 raw text is: Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994 (10-24) Schools, Scapegoats, and Skills: Educational Reforn and the Economy David C. Paris Much of the rhetoric concerning educational reform has focused on the role of education in improving economic competitiveness and productivity. This article notes some of the difficulties in assuming strong links between education and the economy, especially given our limited understanding of the relationship of educa- tion and job skills. These difficulties raise serious policy issues about the aims of public education and the relationship(s) of schools to other institutions. Since the 1983 report A Nation at Risk proclaimed the need for reform in public education, practically every aspect of public education has been discussed. There have also been numerous policy initiatives and experiments, including the setting of national goals for the year 2000 (United States Department of Education, 1991).1 While it is difficult to disagree with these goals, it is important to keep in mind the rhetorical context in which the crisis in public education was proclaimed and continues to be discussed. Much of the rhetoric concerning the problems of public education has focused on the role of education in enhancing economic competitiveness. For example, the very first section of America 2000 is labeled America's Skills and Knowledge Gap. It expresses concern about the educational achievements of our international competitors and trading partners as well as claiming that our employers cannot hire enough qualified workers (United States Department of Education, 1991, p. 14). Presumably, achieving the new national goals will help improve our economic performance. Despite widespread agreement that the schools have an important role in improv- ing the economy, it is unclear whether and how the schools can, or even should, play that role. This article raises some questions about the schools' role in enhancing economic competitiveness and whether the current reform movement is likely to help them do so. Specifically, it will note some of the difficulties in assuming strong links between schools and the economy, particularly given our limited understanding of the relationship between education and job skills. Indeed, one need not look much further than several recent reports, most of which were done or supported by the United States government, to discover some of these difficulties (Carnevale & Gainer, 1989; Carnevale, Gainer, & Meltzer, 1988; Commission on Workforce Quality and Market Efficiency, 1989; Hudson Institute, 1987; Magaziner, 1990; National Governors' Association, 1988; Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills [SCANS], 1991).2 Moreover, and perhaps more important, the current public discussion of the relationship between education and the economy has wrongly tended to ignore, or treat as settled, significant pedagogical and institutional questions about skills and critical thinking, and about the schools' relationship(s) to other institutions. These in turn raise serious policy issues about what aims, beyond the kind recently established by executive fiat, the public schools should pursue, and how best to pursue them.