by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) Senior Republican Member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor
For policymakers and practitioners alike, a vexing question lies at the root of the education reform debate: Who is in charge?
Educating the next generation has historically been a right and responsibility of parents working with their local communities and state governments.
If funding is a proxy for responsibility, the federal role is very small—roughly ten cents on the dollar come from federal sources. Yet in recent years, I have heard a consistent refrain from educators who feel the federal government has commandeered their classrooms, making it difficult for teachers to teach and principals to operate their schools.
With passage of the No Child Left Behind Act nearly eight years ago, the federal government began prescribing how, when, and what to test.
In an effort to promote accountability and transparency, the law used a simplistic approach to label schools based on whether they did or did not meet fixed achievement targets.
The result? Major gains were not always acknowledged, and all struggling schools were treated alike.
As Congress prepares to reauthorize programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we must be mindful of the NCLB experience—both its success in identifying achievement gaps and its shortcomings that stem from overly prescriptive involvement in the day-to-day operation of our classrooms.
Ultimately, my goal is to make the federal government an appropriate partner in the effort to improve our schools.
The federal government does have certain responsibilities when it comes to educating our children. For instance, I have been fighting for years to increase federal funding for special education programs. More than three decades ago, the federal government pledged to fund 40 percent of the excess cost of educating children with disabilities.
Today, we are providing less than half that amount.
Increasing funding for special education would help every teacher and every school district in America. It would free up local funding to be used to fulfill unique, local needs that differ from one school to another. But as we increase our investments in special education, we must also reform the law to make it less adversarial while helping teachers and school leaders more effectively identify whether children need special education services.
As we grapple with questions about what role the federal government can and should play in our schools, we must look to our teachers, principals, and superintendents. We need to empower our school boards and the citizens who elect them. And we need to focus on effective partnerships that support educators rather than supersede them.
An important first step is to recognize that whether it is at the local, state, or federal level, our goal is the same: To give all students the best education possible.
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Now it is your turn What do you think? Leave a comment!
On size does not fit all. Exposure to a variety of teaching styles and personalities will more effectively prepare students to cope with real world situations. Respective students must be held responsible for their active participation in the learning process.
Many factors contribute to success in classrooms. My book, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education, available via Xlibris.com, discusses many of them. One important factor often overlooked is the comfort level of teachers and the enthusiasm they present when teaching. Too frequently, politically motivated policies, procedures, and practices are substituted for sound principles of education. Comfortable comradery between teachers and school administrators would be significantly enhanced if school administrators were elected by teachers. Each would then be dependent on one another for successful accomplishments. Each would look “good” only to the extent the team was successful. Students would be the beneficiaries of such comradery.
Im a huge believer in parental controls. There is to much misleading information online and its hard for parents to find the truth. I really identified with this and also really enjoy all of the helpful and supportive comments. I thank you for your useful information.
It is time that Americans come to realize two basic truths. 1. If we want to achieve academically like other countries then we have to be willing to do as they do. We cannot put all of the pressure on the teacher and expect nothing from the student or parent. When will the teaching professional refrain from feeling like a failure because his/her students and parents make social acceptance a higher priority than education?
2. The amount of state standards and indicators that a child is supposed to learn in one year is ridiculous. If we really want students to master something then we should diminish the amount of standards that they must achieve annually. This does not mean “dummy down” instruction. It simply means that we have seen the trends of students still not being proficient in Number Sense and Measurement even in their middle school years. Therefore, why don’t we as a country start to teach around students’ development level? Why don’t we break down math into smaller chunks? Why do we often mix reading comprehension, reading fluency, and writing into one large piece? At the high school and college level classes are broken down for concentration purposes. Wouldn’t it be wise to begin this at the youngest age?
Addressing the amount of state standards and indicators a child is supposed to learn in one year, I agree the system is poor. I agree that we should also teach according to development levels and trends. But to say that we have accurate trends based on standardized tests or our current grading system would be far from reality. To develop accurate trends we need only to look at research in psychology and anthropology. Also its not enough to break down subjects while teaching, but how we assess as well. For example It is not beneficial to students to grade on the basics of a subject and then grade again on higher levels of the subject, while leaving the basic grade unturned. I would like to see a educational system that doesn’t grade but acknowledges when a student comprehends, then when a student is competent, and finally when a student has a mastery of the subject. While I agree with part of your statement, without a more complete plan, there will be little change in grades, tests, or what you do not currently measure; a students ability.
Race to the Top, and outgrowth of NCLB, is nothing short of extortion! How dare the central government and politicians on BOTH sides of the isle make schools compete for aid. Aid is a right of every child, not just those who attend school districts that acquiesce to the demands of politicians who dictate the standards for learning. It seems as if this program has to be illegal somehow. Perhaps communities need to take charge of their schools again and file a class action suit against the government for the withholding of funds. It is outrageous that teachers have been degraded to such base levels by our politicians. The mantra by those same politicians that our teachers need to be treated as professionals is merely a ploy to micro manage every aspect of education. The fact that politicians attended schools does not make them experts. The teachers are the ones who know best as to how to educate our children, and these new initiatives are insulting. What they say is that “we don’t trust your expertise when it comes to children.”
The amount of funds thrown at education is all for nothing, if teachers can’t hold students accountable for their own success, and if parents don’t come on board and help raise their own children, and instill the value of education. Teachers can’t teach students who don’t feel an education is as important as what the “homies” are doing once the bell rings, or where they’re going to score sex, or drugs. Parents don’t need to be asking what schools and teachers can do for their students, but they need to ask how they can support the schools and teachers to make their student accountable for their education. It’s like the old saying: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The same applies to students. You can have the best school, with the best technology and books, the best teachers, in the nicest neighborhoods, but if the kid doesn’t “get” why education is important, all the “goodies” are not going to make the student successful. The student will fail, because they just don’t care about succeeding!!!!
What happened to the fact that “It takes a community to educate a child?”
I am appalled at the fact that an invisible overworked part of this partner is being overlooked. Not only is teachers, principals, and superintendents a part but the school staff which includes the secretary, bookkeeper, janitors, cafeterial personnell and especially the much abused and disrespected classroom paraprofessionals. When are you going to realize that the parents are also a part of the equation? The schools need resources not only to help the students but to make the parents responsible for the students success also. Even if you can get services for special education the parents must buy in for it to become a success. Classroom paraprofessionals are the best place to look for highly qualified teachers to train for your classrooms. This asset is not only overlooked but underpaid and underappreciated.