No Child Left Behind

Whistling Past the Ruins: The "Education Moment"

Robert Borosage — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:46:38 -0400

The President went to Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia to deliver a speech on education, calling on Congress to fix and reauthorize No Child Left Behind by the fall.

The speech was a carefully modulated discussion of education reform that echoed themes from the Clinton years. We need to hold schools accountable, but not brand 82% failures. We need testing and standards, but not force teachers to teach to the test. We need to honor and reward good teachers, but get rid of the bad ones.

And of course, the president made the case for both reform and resources:

Now, for a long time we weren’t sure about how to give our kids that kind of education…. Some people thought if you just put more money into education that would solve the problem. And then the other side thought, money doesn’t matter; what we need is reform. In fact, there were those who argued that we should just dismantle the public education system altogether. Rather than working together, both sides remained locked in this stalemate year after year, decade after decade, and nothing much changed.

And then something began to happen in states and local schools districts. Instead of getting caught up in these old, stale debates, people began to agree that, you know what, we need both more money and more reform.

We need to change rules, standards and attitudes, said the President, and that will “cost some money. Fixing our failing schools costs money. It requires reform, but it costs some money. Recruiting and rewarding the best teachers will cost money. Making it possible for families to send their kids to college costs money. “

So the president pledged that despite his five year freeze on domestic spending, he will protect spending on education. “ A budget that sacrifices our commitment to education would be a budget that’s sacrificing our country’s future. That would be a budget that sacrifices our children’s future. And I will not let it happen.”

Will not let it happen?

I know the White House wants to believe the recovery has started, but is it totally blind to the carnage taking place in schools and colleges across the country? States are cutting not just pre-K but kindergarten. Urban schools are headed to classes of 40 or 50 students. After school programs are getting slashed. Teachers are being laid off and facing harsh cuts in pay and benefits. Colleges are hiking tuitions, cutting assistance, and even reducing the number of students they’ll admit. And the state and local budget crisis is getting worse now that aid from the federal government is running out.

You’d think an education president would treat this as a national emergency. Convene Governors and Mayors from across the country. Meet with teachers and superintendents. Rally parents to join in protecting education investments. Call on Congress to provide targeted aid to states to protect school and university budgets.

One with a more populist temper might sensibly detail the damage being done, and call for levying a surcharge on the wealthiest Americans (or on financial speculation) to pay for emergency aid to the schools)

Will not let it happen?

It’s happening already. Deep and ruinous cuts in public school budgets. An accelerated departure of demoralized teachers, the best leaving first. College growing more unaffordable to more and more young people..

And the White House is rolling out an agenda for “this education moment,” while saying not one word about the carnage taking place in our schools across the nation. Whistling....across the ruins.

Conservatives Can't Vouch for Vouchers, But They Will Mislead

Isaiah J. Poole — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:45:45 -0400

The propaganda machine supporting school vouchers, headquartered in the office of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, is determined not to let the facts get in the way of conservative ideological spin.

The press release for a report released Monday on the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program—a masterfully euphemistic name for a program that uses public funds to pay for private school education—is headlined: "Report Reaffirms Academic Gains for D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Participants."

The report actually says this:

After 2 years, there was no statistically significant difference in test scores in general between students who were offered an OSP scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship. Overall, those in the treatment and control groups were performing at comparable levels in mathematics and reading.

The mean scores for D.C. Opportunity Scholarship students were a whole three points higher than the mean scores of students outside the program in reading (621.30 vs. 618.12). They were virtually identical in mathematics (614.09 vs. 613.85).

In fact, it is difficult to find anything in the actual report that would justify the claim that the 1,900 students in this voucher program—which the administration is seeking $18 million to continue—are better off than they would be if those same dollars—as well as the same parental engagement and other factors of school success—were invested in the public schools that these students would otherwise attend. (This is one reason D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has been a longtime opponent of the voucher program and, The Washington Post reports, is pressing to have it phased out.)

Yet, Spellings issues a statement that runs contrary to the Bush administration's constant drumbeat of insisting that government programs that don't measure up get the ax:

"While [the report] reflects the reality that this program is still in its early stages, this report also tells me that no one in a position of responsibility can sever this lifeline right now and leave these kids adrift in schools that are not measuring up-not when they have chosen to create a better future for themselves."

Ideology trumps results. So does the twisted logic that says there are only two choices—allow the right to outsource public education to private interests that have little or no public accountability, or "set kids adrift in schools that are not measuring up."

What about a real partnership between federal officials and local communities to actually improve the public schools—backed by the resources actually needed to do the job? That was the promise of the No Child Left Behind law that has been badly broken by the Bush administration and conservatives in Congress.

There is an alternative policy approach to the false promise of school vouchers. Learn more about it at BoldApproach.org and show your support for educational reform that would actually make a difference for our children.

Rules Block School Aid

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:19:02 -0400

Conflicting requirements are preventing some of the nation's struggling schools from getting the financial help envisioned by the No Child Left Behind Act to boost achievement, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

Negative views of No Child Left Behind are growing rapidly.

Alex Carter — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:51:57 -0400

-A plurality (40%) had an unfavorable view of No Child Left Behind in 2007, up from 13% in 2003.(Gallup, September 2007)

-52% of public school parents said in 2007 there is too much emphasis on testing, up from 32% in 2002. (Only 43% of all adults agree there is too much emphasis, up from 31%.) (Gallup, September 2007)

-Only one-third of public school parents say NCLB is helping their schools, with the rest saying it is hurting or making no difference. (Gallup, September 2007)

-Only one-third of public school parents say the “increase in testing” is helping their schools, with the rest saying it is hurting or making no difference. (Gallup, September 2007)