Long: Governor’s School Reform Scapegoats Teachers

In an OpEd in the Sunday Hartford Courant, Daniel Long, assistant professor of sociology, refutes Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s assertion that the cause of the achievement gap between the state’s suburban schools and urban schools is the inconsistent quality of teachers and lack of school choice. Long says the problem is not teacher quality but income disparity among communities where the schools are located. Long says, “The biggest impact would come from policies that equalize the average socioeconomic status in all schools.”