Glenn Carstens Peters/StockSnap
For kids growing up in western Massachusetts in the 1990s and early 2000s, watching Malcolm in the Middle, the story of a fourth-wall-breaking child prodigy and his family, was an after-school staple. Jumping into the current era, my unintentional foray into education and subsequent work as a special education teacher and disability rights activist are some of the scenarios that Funky Muniz’s Malcolm has to tackle on the show. It didn’t feel that different.
Reporting the state at the federal level to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for failure to comply with the IDEA Act, resulting in a months-long investigation and shuffling of policy changes, is a stark reminder of just how much work there is. I was made to do it. What still needs to be done. In one episode in particular, Malcolm takes a job at his mother’s convenience store and is required to carry empty cardboard boxes up a freight elevator to the aptly named box-flattening area, then return the flattened boxes to the trash can. There is a plot line that goes like this. It is just a few feet away from where the process begins. When Malcolm suggested that he could complete the same task in 20 minutes instead of hours by simply stomping the box into the dumpster, the man giving the instructions just stopped. The man simply rephrases his original instructions to exaggerate things. I can’t think of a better metaphor for our broken and entrenched education system.
I’m seeing proposals and committees being formed towards solutions, but it feels like we’re taking yet another trip into the realm of flattening the box. The main purpose of dealing with the problem is still mainly focused on money. As opposed to looking at the root problem, recognizing it, and acknowledging the problem, we address the underlying pervasive problems such as poor literacy instruction or bullying. This song and dance is yet another attempt by education leaders to obfuscate, distract, and funnel money without a serious push toward accountability and systemic change. It feels like an attempt.
ben tobin
williamsburg
