Haddam-Killingworth High School teacher Barth Keck.
Barth Keck, an English teacher and assistant football coach, who also teaches courses in journalism and media literacy at Haddam-Killingworth High School, wrote an interesting piece for CT News Junkie, “It Doesn’t Take Captain Obvious to Identify A Stacked Deck.”
In the story, Keck uses the fictitious “Captain Obvious” to counter the claims made by celebrities joining corporate education reformers in disparaging public education across the country.
Here are some of the obvious realities facing students, teachers, and public schools across America that Captain Obvious highlights.
1. A disadvantaged family life negatively affects educational achievement.
I can hear Captain Obvious now: “The better off a child’s family, the better she will do in school.”
2. Measuring schools and teachers with an annual standardized test can be misleading and limiting.
As Captain Obvious might say, “Standardized tests do not improve the overall education process.”
3. Charter schools’ effectiveness is directly related to their exclusive student population.
Captain Obvious’ interpretation? “Schools that serve fewer special-needs students face fewer challenges.
The obvious realities of public education are endless. Unfortunately, the solutions that receive the most attention often disregard these issues because they are proposed by education-reform celebrities.
