I once had an educational leader ask me what I thought was the mandate for a specific school district.
I replied, "to educate children."
They responded, "yeah, but how would that be any different from any other district?"
I said, "why should it be different?"
They awkwardly changed the subject.
These kinds of interactions lead me to believe that for some, education reform is simply about branding their school district - which has little to nothing to do with the children's best interests.
This is interesting anecdotal evidence that would make a good basis for a study. The hard part is that if you directly asked a school administrator "Do you see school reform as way to differentiate your school/school district from others?" they would deny it even if they believed it at a subconscious level.
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