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ELECTION '08:

Education Experts List the Top Issues on the Political Horizon

                                                                                                           9.3.07

Which education issues will dominate the presidential campaigns? the Journalism Center asked representatives from three national education organizations and a seasoned education reporter to name three topics journalists should be ready to report. Find out which education issues – from state standards and the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind to teacher recruitment and effective schools – these experts say matter most.

Thomas Toch, Education Sector                Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

Roy Romer, Strong American Schools     Stephanie Banchero, Chicago Tribune

Thomas Toch, co-director of the Education Sector, an independent education policy think tank devoted to developing solutions to the nation’s most pressing educational problems:

Real Learning Requires Real Standards. We have as a nation become convinced over the last decade or two of the importance of setting clear expectations for the nation's schools, of the need for high standards for all students. In response, many states established standards and testing systems in the 1990s, and the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 required states to do so. But under NCLB, in particular, state standards have varied widely and many states have set the bar so low as to severely undercut the law's aims. And most states have adopted tests focused on low-level skills that have helped to drive down the level of instruction in the nation's classrooms. We need a single, national system of voluntary but rigorous standards and tests to help encourage states to set high standards for their schools.

Strengthening the Teaching Profession. We won't be able to educate our students to the high standards that policymakers have been calling for without stronger teachers in many of the nation's schools. Teaching is both challenging and rewarding work. But relatively low pay, difficult working conditions, and the old-style, industrial-era teacher unionism that has pervaded public education since the advent of teacher collective bargaining in the 1960s make teaching unattractive to many of the nation's best and brightest college graduates. In sharp contrast, teaching is a highly respected (and highly compensated) occupation in European and Asian countries with strong economies. We need national leadership to rally top talent into the nation's classrooms.

The Other Achievement Gap. Much of the national school reform conversation has focused on closing the wide and troubling achievement gaps between white students and students of color. That goal is at the heart of the standards movement in public education and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. But efforts to close racial achievement gaps are being undermined by the fact that white students, who tend to be from more affluent families, start school with a substantial advantage over African American and Latino students -- and that advantage is expanding. That's because a higher percentage of white students attend preschool programs. And the rate of pre-schooling among white students is increasing faster than that of students of color, who have an acute need to get a head start on learning because they are more likely to come from disadvantaged homes. Attending to the growing gaps among young students would make efforts to address achievement gaps in elementary and secondary education far more fruitful.

Roy Romer, Colorado's former governor and chairman of Strong American Schools,  a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign that aims to make education a top priority in the 2008 presidential election: 

Raising Our Low Education Standards. After all the talk of No Child Left Behind pressuring schools to improve, it might seem odd to say American education standards are too low. But in June, the U.S. Department of Education revealed that half the states have set fourth-grade reading benchmarks so low that they fall beneath even the most basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pegged America’s low education standards as one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economy. And according to a poll released in July, three-quarters of Americans favor some kind of national effort to raise academic standards.

Turning the Teacher Shortage Into an Opportunity. Baby boomer retirements and other factors will force America’s schools to hire 2 million new teachers over the next decade. That is not just a huge challenge but also an historic opportunity to recruit the best and brightest Americans to teach our students. But it will take bold solutions to get beyond our current failed policies. Today our highest-achieving graduates are less likely to enter teaching and less likely to stay on the job. According to a poll released in August, 92 percent of Americans think offering performance-based financial incentives for teachers would be an effective way to recruit and retain the teachers we need.

Providing More Time and Support for Students. More than 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year – more than 6,000 drop-outs a day or one every 26 seconds. Research shows that in high schools where teachers have time to provide students with high levels of support, they manage to cut dropout rates in half.  But our schools are squeezed for time. Students in many other developed nations spend nearly a full year more in school by the end of 12th grade.  If we want to raise graduation rates and ensure that students leave high school with the skills to succeed, we need to provide struggling and successful students alike with more time for in-depth learning and greater personal attention.

Mike Petrilli, vice president for national programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which supports research, publications and action projects in elementary/secondary education reform:

The Embarrassing State of State Standards. For almost 20 years, and certainly with the No Child Left Behind Act, reformers have placed their hopes in standards-based reform. But every month brings new evidence that the standards and tests at the center of the enterprise are faulty. At a time when international competition is fiercer than ever, most state tests are ridiculously easy, and appear to be getting easier yet. They cover only the most rudimentary skills, pushing schools toward a diminished vision of education. Serious presidential candidates should be willing to call for rigorous, comprehensive national standards and tests, or at least incentives for states to raise the bar.

High-Achieving Students Left Behind. While shining a much-needed spotlight on the achievement gap, NCLB also appears to discourage schools from spending time, energy and money cultivating the talents of their most gifted students. Ignoring the needs of gifted children is itself unfair and unjust, as they don’t have an opportunity to fulfill their potential. But it’s also bad for American competitiveness. Presidential aspirants should consider changes to NCLB’s accountability system that would reward schools for accelerating the performance of their high-achieving students –while maintaining pressure on schools to bring up the bottom, too.

Giving Failing Schools a "Fresh Start." During the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore and George W. Bush debated what to do with chronically failing schools. Gore said, “If it's a failing school, shut it down and reopen it under a new principal with a turnaround team of specialists.” That idea made its way into NCLB. There are now over 1,000 schools in need of “restructuring” under the law, and they are supposed to face the tough action that Gore described, but there’s very little evidence any of them are being thoroughly overhauled. The candidates need a plan for what to do with them. Ideally, they would push states to close them down and hand over the keys to their buildings to successful charter school networks like the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). Are they willing?

Stephanie Banchero, education writer, Chicago Tribune:

The Fate of No Child Left Behind. NCLB, up for renewal this year, is the most far-reaching and expensive federal education reform in decades. The landmark law affects every public school in the nation and reaches into every crevice of the education landscape, including testing, reading instruction, teacher quality and school reform. In five years, it has pumped more than $100 billion into the nation’s classrooms. The controversial law faces a potentially hostile Congress, and local and state officials nationwide already are calling for dramatic changes. They want more money and more leeway into how schools are judged. Look for the debate to heat up as lawmakers get serious about reauthorization.

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Finding and Keeping Good Teachers. The dialogue surrounding teachers – how to train them, retain them and pay them – has moved to the forefront of the national debate. Research shows that the quality of classroom teachers is one of the biggest determinants of student success, especially in low-income communities. As Baby Boomers age out of teaching, districts nationwide are scrambling to find skilled educators. Meanwhile, policy-makers debate whether colleges are adequately preparing teachers for today’s diverse classrooms. And politicians argue over whether teachers should get merit pay for boosting student achievement. Look for candidates to address the performance pay issue, and watch for lawmakers to haggle over the best way to get quality educators into hard-to-staff classrooms.

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The Price of Higher Education. College tuition is skyrocketing and more students have been forced into debt to finance their education. Last year, students took out more than $85 billion in federal and private loans to pay for college. The average debt for a four-year college graduate is about $19,000. Meanwhile, lending institutions have come under federal and state scrutiny for questionable financial relationships with colleges and universities. As the number of college students continues to swell, look for Congress to wrestle with how to increase financial aid. And look for lawmakers to continue debating proposed controls on cozy and questionable lender-college relationships.