Education is where Obama can claim success
President Obama admitted mistakes, and issued a few mea culpas in his State of the Union address this week. But he also rightfully took credit for a fundamental change in approach to federal education policy, and promised more of the same.
Obama’s approach to education hasn’t been bipartisan as much as it’s been entrepreneurial. With Race to the Top, Obama used a relative pittance when it comes to federal spending — $4.3 billion out of $70 billion in last year’s stimulus package for education – as bait to drive some big changes in the states.
In doing so, challenged two of the Democratic Party’s biggest allies, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, over expanding charter schools, using test scores to evaluate teachers, and replacing teachers and principals as one options in kick-starting failing schools. And he took on a Republican bugaboo, nationalizing math and English language standards.
It’s obviously too early to judge whether Race to the Top grants to states will end up improving kids’ education. And the administration has met resistance in the trenches, from local and state unions that refused to sign on to their states’ commitments. But plenty of locals have, too, and more will feel the heat to join in the second round of applications, once the competition starts up again.
The effort to create uniform math and English language grade standards – the common-core initiative – could easily fall apart if Education Secretary Arne Duncan doesn’t give the organizations leading the effort more time to do a thoughtful job. But the point is that after two decades of congressional debate over standards and states’ rights, the issue has shifted for whether there should be common standards to what they’ll be. Forty-eight states have agreed to adopt them.
Ninety percent of federal education money will continue to be distributed by formula, based on population of needy and handicapped kids. But, as part of a proposed $4 billion, 6 percent increase in education funding next year, Obama is proposing to extend the Race to the Top grants competition to school districts. And he’s proposing to throw in another $1 billion in school spending – but only if Congress renews the Elementary and Secondary School Act, also known as No Child Left Behind.
Because of the law’s significant flaws, starting with its utopian goal of universal proficiency by 2014, the renewal fight could be bruising. Obama wants to incorporate key ideas from Race to the Top, including the placement of accomplished teachers in low-performing schools, and to replace No Child Left Behind’s sanctions with rewards for improvement.
Congress has the final word on spending, and could approve the extra billion, reauthorization or not. And experts quoted in a New York Times article today predicted low odds on completing such complex legislation by the August recess. But it’s an interesting twist, treating Congress like children, tying their allowance to good behavior – in this case, reaching a bipartisan compromise on a contentious issue in an election year.
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That rosy account does not jibe with what listeners heard from a respected education researcher and the Race to the Top flack on a recent radio broadcast. My blog:
A spokesman for the Obama administration’s Department of Education, appearing on a Jan. 12 radio broadcast, readily agreed with the views of another program guest who sharply criticized jhis department’s Race to the Top school reform program.
Peter Cunningham, assistant secretary of communications for the U.S. Department of Education, appeared on the program “To the Point” on radio station KCRW with education researcher Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute. Cunningham willingly concurred with Rothstein that overreliance on standardized testing is detrimental to students, and that “many” charter schools, a model being promoted as a solution for troubled schools, are not successful. Rothstein spoke forcefully about the “major harm” done by administration policies, getting no argument from Cunningham.
The Obama administration’s education department is promoting policies that are “actually harming the education of students in this country,” Rothstein charged, and “education has been corrupted” by those policies. “A major consequence of No Child Left Behind that’s done major harm to American education is the narrowing of the curriculum,” he said. Sciences, history, social studies, music, the arts and physical education are neglected or abandoned as educators struggle to adhere to NCLB’s emphasis on math and reading, Rothstein explained, and “Race to the Top doesn’t change that.” Abandoning important subjects “does the most harm to disadvantaged students,” Rothstein added. Race to the Top, he said, is “accentuating the harm that NCLB did.”
“Absolutely that’s a very real issue,” Cunningham admitted.
When Rothstein pointed out that “charter schools on average don’t have better student performance than regular public schools,” Cunningham responded, “We 100% agree that many of them are not good.”
Moderator Warren Olney asked Rothstein: “Are standardized tests a good measure of teacher performance and ultimately of school performance?”
“No, they’re not,” Rothstein responded. “Education has been corrupted. In addition to narrowing the curriculum by abandoning other topics, what this kind of system does is create incentives to game the system. We’re actually harming the education of students in this country.”
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This is clearly a case where subtitles would come in handy
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Yes, Rothstein has opposed NCLB from day one, because he believes that the only way to improve education for low-income kids is to address the roots of poverty. That also lets school districts like Los Angeles Unified off the hook. ‘
The narrowing of the curriculum may be the worst result of NCLB but not grounds for abolishing it. The administration wants to substantially change NCLB, and $350 million realted to Race to the Top would go toward redesigning assessments to steer away from narrow high-stakes tests. But the thrust of NCLB — holding schools accountable for the progress of all students, including minorities, will — and should — remain.
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