SSA Committee Misrepresented Scholarly Research

MPASS member Mark Schoenfield has interviewed David Brunsma, PhD, the nation's leading researcher on standard school attire. This information was sent to the board today; cover letter is reprinted below. Read the interview here.

April 5, 2007

Dear Board Members,

I write to raise a very serious issue regarding the misrepresentation of David Brunsma’s work in the presentations to you by the SSA Committee. Because Professor Brunsma is the leading researcher in the field and because his reputation, like that of all PhDs, depends on his integrity, it is important that you be aware of this impropriety. Further, because Professor Brunsma’s work was not given an adequate hearing, and instead pages and pages were spent on marketing surveys, incomplete data, and unreliable surveys, it is clear that the repeated “belief” of the committee is nothing more than that—a belief deeply held, no doubt, but unsubstantiated. To follow a recommendation based on such flawed work is a violation of public trust.

The key misrepresentations that the Committee has perpetrated are:
1) That Dr. Brunsma said his work to be inconclusive. He knows that its conclusions are scientifically valid.
2) That his work is not relevant to “Standard School Attires” and that “Standard School Attires” are not uniforms. SSA is the typical public school uniform.
3) That there is insufficient research in this field and that other studies have not corroborated his work. His research both represents the best work in the field, but further has been substantially corroborated by additional studies.

I do understand that these principals felt they were under tremendous pressure to produce a particular result, but to misrepresent a scholar in the field in order to achieve it is unacceptable. It raises, I think, serious questions about the top-down nature of the current organization of the School System and the problems of a doctrine of ruling by “fear.”

Because the SSA Committee never provided a chance to hear from an expert on this matter, I am attaching my interview with Dr. Brunsma. Beside addressing these substantive misrepresentations, he also provides other useful information. I urge you to read his work, just as I urged the Committee to do so, but this interview certainly points to the highlights which make clear that the District-wide implementation of SSA is a very bad policy choice. He also puts the “tuck-in” regulation in an appropriate perspective. I am certain he would be willing to discuss the matter more with the board.

Sincerely,

Mark Schoenfield