| A program called Open Court is being | | | | performing schools to rise to the occasion, Open |
| implemented in several Southern California school | | | | Court is pulling down all students. |
| districts and threatens to spread elsewhere. Open | | | | Essentially, it is dumbing down elementary |
| Court is a reading program that amounts to little | | | | education. Second, using Open Court scripts in the |
| more than a script for both teacher and students. | | | | classroom makes having qualified, well-educated |
| When forced to use Open Court, teachers lose | | | | teachers unneccessary. Anyone can read a script |
| the ability to adapt the curriculum to the neeeds | | | | - even a robot. If Open Court becomes popular |
| of their individual students. Classroom participation | | | | across the state (and then across the country) |
| occurs only when the script calls for it. | | | | we could easily see a sharp drop in the number of |
| All Open Court students receive the same flat, | | | | credentialed teachers. The lowering of standards |
| industrialized version of an education without any | | | | for teachers would in turn lead to a drop in |
| adjustments made to better fit their needs and | | | | teacher salaries, thus deterring other potential |
| to help them as individuals and as free thinkers. | | | | educators from entering the profession. In short, |
| The rise of Open Court, which is currently only | | | | Open Court is destructive to students and |
| available for elementary schools, frightens me for | | | | teachers alike. Yes, we need to improve |
| two reasons. First, it attempts to solve the | | | | education in low-income areas, but lowering |
| problem of educational inequality by teaching ALL | | | | standards and reducing teachers to robots is not |
| students the exact same material, WORD FOR | | | | the answer. |
| WORD. Instead of aiding students in low | | | | |