|
4401-A
Connecticut Avenue, Box 294, Washington, DC
20008
Tel: (202) 244-7535, Fax: (202) 244-7584
|
Education Exchange
Volume 3, Issue 4 -- April
1999
|
Focusing on
Education Reforms at Your School, in Your State
Legislature, and in Congress
|
Accountability,
Flexibility, Results, And Consequences
Are Watchwords of the Day
On Tuesday, April 13, the Manhattan Institute (MI) and
the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) hosted "Fresh
Thinking About Federal Education Policy," a conference
designed to offer insight into the upcoming Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization which
includes Title 1. Two panels of education policy experts
addressed the history of the federal role in education, and
proposals for improving the ESEA, a $13 billion federal
program.
Time and again the words accountability, flexibility,
results, and consequences came to the fore. Marshall Smith,
acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education,
spoke about a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report on
fiscal equalization which he said shows a wide disparity in
local dollars going to poor children vs. funds that reach
children from higher incomes. He said the disparity at the
state level is great, but less than at the local level, and
that the report shows "far more equalization" at the federal
level. Smith emphasized the need for greater accountability
from all segments of education: teachers, students, parents,
and school boards.
Chester Finn, John M. Olin Fellow with the Manhattan
Institute, said that for the past 34 years of ESEA the
education establishment has repeatedly said, "It's finally
beginning to work...Don't rock the boat...It's gonna be
okay...Trust us." Finn declared, "Well, it's not working! It
is dysfunctional, not just ineffective."
Finn noted, "The federal role mistrusts states. The
federal role mistrusts parents and the marketplace." Other
speakers backed up this claim, though not always sharing his
conclusions.
PPI President Will Marshall pulled the reins back from
Finn a bit, saying we should "stay the course but press the
pace." He suggested a four-point plan that would include 1)
demanding results from schools 2) concentrating dollars
where they are most needed 3) ensuring that failure has
consequences 4) providing maximum leeway for local
decision-making.
Stuart Butler, vice president for domestic policy at the
Heritage Foundation, laid out his own four-point plan which
includes 1) giving states maximum flexibility to implement
innovative reform measures 2) establishing "formal
contracts" with states to meet very specific goals that
would include real rewards and real penalties 3) introducing
a student/parent bill of rights 4) requiring strict
accountability and measurements of effectiveness. Butler
returned several times to a comparison with the way in which
welfare reform has been implemented and proven effective. He
says the same principles apply in education.
Closing the discussions of the first panel, Finn remarked
in reference to the continuing "give it more time" approach,
"I was depressed when the National Educational Goals Panel
(NEGP) took the goal deadline away and made them permanent
goals. How long do we have to wait? Are they [Goals 2000]
going to become Goals 3000?"
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act: Four
Proposals for Change panel provided more input on ways Title
1 and ESEA might be reformed to improve the means for
increasing student achievement. Diane Ravitch, senior fellow
with MI and PPI, explained her proposal for having Title 1
funds directly follow eligible poor children, rather than
funding school districts that meet federal formulaic
guidelines &endash; the present program. She noted that
"despite recent gains, poor kids are still far, far behind."
Although Ravitch believes making Title 1 a "portable
entitlement" would lessen bureaucratic requirements, this
should not be seen as a proposal to voucherize it. She says
it should be modeled after Pell Grant funding, which allows
the grants to be used at whatever school of higher education
a student chooses to attend.
Family Research Council education policy analyst Jennifer
Marshall talked about changes that would occur if the
Academic Achievement for All Act (Straight A's) were
implemented. In short, the Straight A's proposal would allow
states and large school districts to "opt-out" of federal
education mandates. It would give states the freedom to 1)
choose to remain with the current system, or 2) consolidate
funding for federal K-12 education programs in a "Flex Fund"
to be spent on education solutions that work best for their
communities. Ms. Marshall said, "States that choose the
Straight A's option would be free from program mandates in
exchange for more objective accountability." When it comes
to actual legislation, she said, "Its [Congress] first step
should be a return to the simple role of providing 'aid' to
education, rather than making education 'policy' here in
Washington..."
Closing the second panel, PPI's Andrew Rotherham stated,
"In 1999, ESEA represents more symbolism than substance.
Flexibility is key, but it's got to be done in tandem with
results...We've got to drive results with this money."
The conference showed a disparity of ideas and proposals
for change, all of which Members of Congress will be
considering during their deliberations prior to the final
vote on the 1999 reauthorization of ESEA.
Teacher
Union-Backed Candidates Swept Out En Masse
in Milwaukee School Board Election
On Tuesday, April 6, five of the nine seats on the
Milwaukee School Board were up for election. In all five
races, the teacher union-supported candidates lost. The
Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association (MTEA) had
endorsed candidates in each race, putting particularly heavy
emphasis on the single city-wide seat where they hoped to
oust incumbent John Gardner.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel promoted the campaign as
advocates of change vs. the status quo. Turnout for the
election was low, which conventional wisdom says should have
favored the union and its ability to get its voters to the
polls. Wisconsin grassroots activist Jim Shutes noted,
however, "I think the parents just said 'Hey, we're going to
get out there and be heard. The people like charter schools
and school choice, and the word is getting around.'" Backing
up Shutes' theory, winning challenger Ken Johnson, who beat
incumbent Leon Todd, led one of the most "aggressive
grassroots campaigns in the city." In the most contentious
race, incumbent John Gardner outdistanced retired principal
Theadoll Taylor with 60 percent of the vote. Both Johnson
and Gardner raised more money than their opponents.
The MTEA has come under fire for its questionable
spending on campaign-related ads in this race. According to
the Journal Sentinel, "Gardner asserts that the MTEA poured
$400,000 into the race. The MTEA admits nothing. It claims
that its ads were educational; that is, that they focused
only on issues." During the period between the February
primary and the April general election, the MTEA reported
spending just $3,700 on school board elections.
Leah Vukmir, president of Parents Raising Educational
Standards in Schools (PRESS), a statewide parent activist
organization, said "the union campaign was all attack
ads...there were no positive statements about their
candidates." She noted that many coalitions covering a broad
political spectrum concentrated campaign efforts in the
right places to help reform candidates win. "If it can be
done there...Milwaukee has had a ripple effect before...this
can be another step in the wave of reform that Milwaukee has
started."
Largely at the behest of now ousted member Leon Todd, the
pre-election Milwaukee School Board had been working to
"undo [former Superintendent Howard] Fuller's reforms." Dr.
Fuller stepped down from his post in 1995 following the
election of "a slate of union-backed candidates...saying it
would be impossible to work with a board that opposed his
commitment to change." The Journal Sentinel reports that
"the new Milwaukee School Board is expected to quickly open
the door for MPS [Milwaukee Public Schools] charter schools
and support an overhaul of the district's policy on the
state's open enrollment program." Although MPS has had the
ability to create its own charter schools for several years,
it has established only one due in large part to resistance
from the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association.
Fuller noted that the new school board was elected based
on the candidates' support for empowering local schools,
increasing parental options, and seeing that dollars follow
students. He believes the board will move aggressively on
those fronts in the next 100 days.
Along with the MTEA, People for the American Way (PFAW)
worked feverishly prior to election day to "educate" voters
in Milwaukee about candidate stances on vouchers. In
coordination with Wisconsin Citizen Action, they operated
phone banks four nights a week throughout the campaign. PFAW
utilized the volunteer services of high school students they
had recruited at a December event called Partners for Public
Education to staff the phone banks.
Democratic Mayor John Norquist and business leaders
supported the reform candidates. "This is the end to
excuse-based education," said Norquist, following the
election, adding, "I think the people of Milwaukee want to
have a School Board that will focus on improving MPS and
making it a place where people will want to put their kids."
Commenting on the message that can be drawn from the
election, Fuller said, "If you support parental options
(choice and charters), those are not death knells for people
who run for public office." Vukmir added, "If you have a
good message, a focused message, you can come up against the
teacher unions and be successful."
Corporate
World Offers New Solutions for Education to ECS
To move beyond the actions already taken in education
policy and research communities, the Education Commission of
the States (ECS) is stepping outside of education to look
for solutions. On March 9, corporate and education leaders
met to begin developing a plan for creating a world-class
teacher development system. "Co-Creating 21st Century
Quality Teachers: A Partnership with Corporate America," was
hosted by Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer, ECS chairman-elect,
and ECS President Frank Newman.
A growing body of research is reinforcing the belief that
the effectiveness of teachers is the single most significant
factor in students' ability to succeed academically. There
are a number of reasons for the shortage of qualified
teachers including: inadequate teacher preparation programs;
poor continuing education programs for practicing teachers;
a growing number of the best teachers being lured away from
the profession; a growing student population; and mandates
for lower class size.
ECS Project Director Michael Allen notes that many of the
corporate participants at the meeting focused on the
potential for "radical change" within education, foreseeing
multi-generational classrooms, and an environment where
self-directed learning and a high degree of
coaching/mentoring would be the norm. The corporate leaders
went on to explain the greater degree of importance they
place on informal means of training in the corporate
structure vs. formal classroom work.
That in mind, ECS is opening the gates to the private
sector to see what successful means are in use there that
might be tailored for effective use in education. "The
reality is that if it has the imprimatur of being successful
in the private sector, people are more willing to get behind
it," says Allen. According to Allen, ECS sees policymakers
as "partly being pressured to act...[emphasizing] they have
a lot more interest in accountability and results."
While corporate meeting participants emphasized the need
for deep structural changes and accountability measures that
would involve new evaluation practices and training
protocols, however, ECS remains more focused on working
within current structures. For example, Allen sees a need to
be more serious in efforts to train principals for
educational leadership in addition to basic management.
Allen notes that "Co-Creating 21st Century Quality
Teachers" was not designed to deal with potential obstacles,
but instead to seek solutions to educational problems by
virtue of combining the experiences of corporate and
education professionals. He acknowledges that the teacher
unions and other ancillary groups have problems with many of
the ideas under discussion. For now, however, ECS felt it
was time to step out of the box and consider possible
solutions to the crisis of teacher quality.
AASCU
Says Reform Teacher Education;
EPI Calls for Market Approach
The American Association of State Colleges and
Universities (AASCU) recently appointed a task force of
college and university presidents, chancellors, chief
academic officers, and education leaders to recommend
specific reform measures that would improve teacher
preparation. The task force's recommendations include:
- that presidents make teacher education a top campus
priority and put dollars into the effort;
- that colleges work with public schools to improve
employment conditions and to establish professional
development programs;
- that teachers have a thorough preparation in the
subject matter that they will teach and that once hired
teachers are not required to teach outside their subject
areas;
- that teacher education programs recruit superior
students;
- that programs work to increase their ethnic
diversity;
- that teachers be prepared to educate diverse
learners;
- that programs include the use of technology; and
- that teacher salaries be increased to attract the top
students to the profession.
AASCU is collaborating on teacher education reform
efforts with the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards (NBPTS), the National Commission on Teaching and
America's Future (NCTAF), the Council for Basic Education
(CBE), the Renaissance Group, and others. They [AASCU] plan
to "identify campuses that will agree to work for five years
on reform efforts," and will assess the results and report
the findings following the five-year program.
The Education Policy Institute believes improving teacher
preparation is a worthy goal, and that an informed public
must be cognizant of "reform" measures that are underway or
proposed. However, the most effective and efficient means to
systemic education reform is through the creation of a
competitive education industry.
It is hard to aspire to greatness under a monopolistic
K-12 system that has no competition to challenge it. A
market-based approach which includes for-profit schools,
private schools, and government-run schools would inevitably
create increased parental involvement, teacher merit, and
student achievement.
EPI's
Education Quick Facts
- In a dramatic gender shift over the past decade,
women now occupy nearly 42 percent of school
principalships -- an increase of more than 20 percent.
The gender shift is even more dramatic in principals with
five years or less experience, where nearly 65 percent
are women. (Source: "NAESP 1998 Ten-Year Study," National
Association of Elementary School Principals)
- Richard M. Ingersoll, a sociologist at the University
of Georgia in Athens, finds that "in a typical year, 6%
of public school teachers leave the profession, and
another 7.2% switch schools. Surveys of those who left in
recent years show 27% saying it was to retire, while 49%
cited either job dissatisfaction or the desire to pursue
another career. The findings, which Mr. Ingersoll has yet
to publish, jibe well with earlier estimates that as many
as 30% of new teachers quit within their first five
years, he said." (Source: The Education Industry
Report, April 1999)
- More than 20,000 citizens contacted their lawmakers
as a result of NEA's cyber-lobbying campaign during the
1998 Congressional budget debate. In the end, NEA reports
that "this grassroots support helped gain the votes
needed last fall for increased federal funding [for
public education]." (Source: nea NOW!, April
1999)
- Public school teachers tend to rate the school in
which they teach higher than other schools in their
community or in the nation. Somewhat more teachers (78%)
this year give the school in which they teach an A or a B
than in years past. However, just 51% of inner-city
teachers give their own schools a grade of A or B, while
85% of suburban teachers, 84% or teachers in small towns,
80% of rural teachers, and 73% of urban teachers do so.
(Source: Phi Delta Kappan, April 1999)
Copyright 1999
Education Policy Institute, PMB 294, 4401-A Connecticut
Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008-2322 202/244-7535, Fax
202/244-7584 http://www.educationpolicy.org
|
