The Supers were teaching us about inertia, the tendency of objects to maintain their current state. As Newton himself put it:
The vis insita, or innate force of matter is a power of resisting, by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavors to preserve in its present state, whether it be of rest, or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line.
The panelists were discussing what will change in the next 5-10 years in education. They were looking globally at the overall system (teacher evaluation, bell schedule, technology, instructional materials, funding flows, etc.). In this context the Superintendent of one of the largest districts in the country (LACOE), in a state (CA) that is experiencing a state of extreme financial distress, stated that she didn’t think anything significant would change until we had a “major crisis.”
If what we are experiencing right now isn’t a major crisis I shudder to think what the hell would fit the definition? National bankruptcy? Nuclear Holocaust?
The Superintendents do expect to see change, but it will be small bore. They believe meaningful reforms will happen on a pioneer basis in a few schools and districts. But the larger issue of systemic education reform will require an even greater crisis than we currently have.
The system is so large and has so much inertia that even those with the will and positions to drive change don’t hold out much hope for progress.
Think about that.