Conversations about Ed Reform

I've been reading and listening to podcasts this week about the buzz on Education Reform brought about by NBC and Oprah. The opening of the movie Waiting for Superman has brought on a flurry of conversations and opinions. The President's speech on the State of Education only added to the pot. Charter schools. Bill Gates. Will this/he reform Education? Are teachers motivated by these conversations? Are teachers inspired by Oprah's interviews? Are teachers walking out of the movie pumped up for Monday morning? Probably not, because in a movie about education, we actually hear very little about reforming teaching and learning. You can throw money at it, change the name, bring in truck loads of technology, but if we're still teaching the same way we did 10, 20, 50 years ago.... nothing will change. Loved the inspiring article on changing the entire program with a new design model by Diana Rhoten at Startl. It's not the teacher's it the system.