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Posted on 02/28/2004 11:17:31 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Education should be about children, not partisan politics. Yet, sadly, there has been a lot of political posturing on this issue lately. It may be inevitable during an election year.
I admit that last week I, too, ratcheted up the debate with a very poor word choice to describe the leadership of the nation's largest teachers union. I chose my words carelessly, and I am truly sorry for the hurt and confusion they caused.
I especially want to be clear on one point. As ill-considered as my words were, my disappointment was directed only -- and I mean only -- at the union heads in Washington who have been opposing any and all educational reforms, no matter what the consequences to our children. I have the utmost respect for our nation's teachers: They work hard and have dedicated their lives to children.
My comment was born out of frustration at the depth of the problem in our schools. Let's look at the facts: The Nation's Report Card (the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP) shows that only one in six African-Americans and one in five Hispanics are proficient in reading by the time they are seniors. NAEP math scores are even worse: Only 3 percent of blacks and 4 percent of Hispanics are testing at the "proficient" level. No wonder a recent study claimed a high school diploma has become nothing more than a "certificate of attendance."
Is our system as a whole preparing the next generation of workers for the global economy? As Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan noted recently, "We need to be forward-looking in order to adapt our educational system to the evolving needs of the economy and the realities of our changing society ... It is an effort that should not be postponed." That's why I am so passionate about making these historic reforms and drawing attention to the issue.
The old system -- the status quo -- is one we must fight to change. President Bush and Congress understood the urgency of the situation and set in motion a process to fix the problem: the No Child Left Behind Act. The law requires schools to give all students a quality education, provides accountability and choice for parents and insists that teachers be highly qualified to teach -- in other words, that they be knowledgeable in the subjects they are teaching -- which is just plain common sense.
Why the focus on teaching? Because research tells us that teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement.
Some have claimed that No Child Left Behind is intrusive and a violation of states' rights. Of course elementary and secondary education is the traditional province of state and local governments. The specific standards, tests and most of the other major tenets of the law are designed and implemented by the states.
But there is a compelling national interest in education, which is why the federal government is involved and has been for some time. The federal government has stepped in to correct overt unfairness or inequality, starting with measures to enforce civil rights and dismantle segregation in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision a half-century ago.
The federal government's first major legislative involvement in education dates to 1965 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which marked the first federal aid given to school districts with large percentages of children living in poverty. The law has been renewed many times since, with the last incarnation before the No Child Left Behind Act coming in 1994. It was called the Improving America's Schools Act. Like No Child Left Behind, it required standards, assessment and the identifying of schools for improvement.
There are two main differences between that 1994 legislation and No Child Left Behind. First, the 1994 act was a tepid attempt at accountability, whereas the more recent legislation builds on that first step and sets concrete expectations. Second, this administration is serious about enforcing the law. When President Bush took office, only 11 states were in compliance with the 1994 law. Three-quarters of them were ignoring the law and simply taking the largess.
The days of free money are over. The No Child Left Behind Act says that if you take federal education dollars, we will ask you to be accountable in terms of raising student achievement -- for all students, not just some.
But this law is not a one-size-fits-all federal approach. The administration has worked hard to create a climate of cooperation and trust with states, and we have listened. New flexibility is being provided. For example, the progress of special education students and English-language learners can now be measured more accurately.
It's time to make the law successful. We need to create a public educational system that matches the vision of this law, where we strive for excellence without exclusion, where our children achieve greatness rather than greatly underachieving, and where 10 or 20 years from now a new generation of adults realizes that we gave them a better life because we had courage and conviction.
Paige is U.S. secretary of education.
***He charged the NEA with encouraging a "coalition of the whining." He called other education reform critics "nihilists" and made unflattering comparisons to French U.N. diplomats and racists. Paige impoliticly suggested last year that schools with a religious environment were preferable to public schools with diverse values.*** Source
With Ebonics and bilingual education driving the huge dropout rate, these numbers are not surprising. And these numbers also depend on the meaning of proficient.
If we want top-notch education then we must get government OUT of education and return 100% of the control to individuals. Run education like a business - have parents choose (gasp) where they send their kids while choosing the tuition they wish to pay.
Schools will still have to be subsidized to a certain extent by LOCAL and STATE taxes (- but not fed taxes)because the amount of tuition should be nominal and vary depending on demand. Why would we have ever agreed to send a chunk of money to DC so that we could be coerced into undesired behaviours just to get our money back???
Teachers and administrators should be accountable to parents, not some federal bureaucracy. When parents hold the cards, education will be good. When government holds the cards, education is just another political tool.
JMHO
Well I guess we'd have to define "instant"... but eliminating the US Department of Education would be most of the battle. USDOE's main purpose is to reallocate funds based on whatever political pet project has the day. This year, it's "No Child Left Behind".
If the funds were never collected in the first place, States wouldn't have to do stupid things to get the money back... they could just do what they think is right (ie NOT what fed says they must do).
I do agree that the 2nd phase of my modest proposal would take more (much more) time.
It would be hard to convince some folks that paying out of pocket for at least a portion of education would simultaneously give them 1000% more say in what schools do AND improve the overall quality of education (due to parent control).
Again, JMHO. But I do know a lot about public schools with respect to the incongruencies they face. "Do we do what's right, or what'll keep us out of trouble?". Sadly, many choose to saty out of trouble (keep their jobs) to the detriment of education.
It's one of the main reasons people leaved public education (there are others tobe sure, but this one is big). People get into education, generally speaking, to help students. When they find out that they are actually prevented from doing so, many leave for greener pastures. Do you blame 'em?
"No Child Left Behind" will have the same effect. It won't help any student at all. It will, however, give politicians some stumping sound bites and push even more quality, capable individuals out of the business of helping students.
I know there are a lot here who instanlty reject anything positive about teachers. My bet is they aren't a teacher, don't know one, and that they are not at all involved in their community's public education program. If otherwise, they would know that it is the UNION that's the problem. Teachers aren't the bad guys... of course every segment of the populaton has its wackos, and I'm sure teaching is no exception. But it is not the case in my community that teachers are all lefty/commie/union supporters. The majority in my community are republican in their view son education - because teachers want choice. Unions don't want choice, teachers do.
BTW what are you doing up so early? And what's your take on the national retail sales tax now that the flat income tax is no longer the lead horse?
You make many fine points about education. Unfortunately the media has made it clear they will never call the NEA on being a union with an agenda. Nor will they regularly report the huge impact teacher's unions have on politics (money, muscle and classroom indoctrination) so the public continues to delude themselves, putting bumper stickers on their cars, taking the easy path by averting their eyes and attention away from the mass education failures. The Bush administrations focus on education failure is forcing them to assess the situation and to look critically at the wailing and foot stomping of the unions. Parents need to know teachers are not required to have an emphasis on their subject matter to earn a teaching degree. Bush wants them to know.
***The old system -- the status quo -- is one we must fight to change. President Bush and Congress understood the urgency of the situation and set in motion a process to fix the problem: the No Child Left Behind Act. The law requires schools to give all students a quality education, provides accountability and choice for parents and insists that teachers be highly qualified to teach -- in other words, that they be knowledgeable in the subjects they are teaching -- which is just plain common sense. *** - Rod Paige, Secretary of Education
I believe the administration knows this will not correct the problems but it will create the atmosphere for change and discredit these unions that are strangling education.
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Taxes: They're dropping on the federal level but being raised through state and property taxes on the state level. We need tax reform big time. We need to spend less on government and spend more where we choose. God help us if a democrat sits in the White House.
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But anyone who believes that NCLB is going to change public education dramatically is kidding themselves. The devil's in the details, and from what I can see, Bush's DOE is not holding feet to the fire.
For example, a central tenet of NCLB is that, in order to graduate, kids have to be minimally competent as measured by standardized tests. In my state (VA), we already had a state testing program in place before NCLB came along, so it's our standardized test that they have to pass. This year's seniors are the first to have to meet the new requirements in order to graduate. The (original) requirements are minimal; kids must pass reading, and writing taken after grade 11, and one test in math, one in science, one in history/social studies, and one of their choosing. Tests are offered in a multiple subjects in each content area (i.e. Alg 1, Geometry, and Alg II in Math).
So far so good, but of course when it became apparent that many of this year's seniors couldn't meet this standard, what did the state DOE (with the permission of Bush's DOE) do? The graduation requirements (for this class and two other "transition" classes) were watered down to just having to pass the english and four other subjects of the student's chosing. So if the kid can pass earth science instead of Algebra, that's okay.
And when it became apparent that this STILL wasn't watered down enough, they decided that the kids didn't really have to pass the test. So long as they took the earth science test twice and came close at least once, the local district could assign him a project which would count for the test.
What are these projects? In many cases, nothing. (wink, wink).
Some kids still can't make it? That's okay, they can substitute "certifications" in vocational areas for any of the tests (except English). So now a "homemaker" certification can be substituted for Algebra.
In the end, of course, very few seniors will not make the cut, and all the politicians of both stripes will clap their hands and claim success - the Republicans saying thanks to NCLB, the Dems saying the success came in spite of it. And the teacher's unions will say "see, teachers ARE doing their jobs"!
But what will have occurred - any my guess is this is occurring nationwide - is just a huge cover up.
I don't know what the answer is, but I'm tending to the "disband federal DOE and public education completely" solution. (Imagine how much worse this would have all been under a Dem administration!)
One thing I know for sure... NCLB sure ain't the answer.
(Bookmarked: Wish I could stay and discuss this - but I'm off to the golf course!)
Taxpayers should demand accountability for their education tax dollars. Teachers should demand accountability from their unions. Both are rampant with fraud, graft and incompetence. Parents should demand results from their children before handing them perks.
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