Set Our Teachers FREE!

Well, 2007 is almost over! It’s time to take a clear, hard and honest look at what has happened during 2007 in education. Although there were a few small triumphs in individual schools over the last year, by and large, there were no great accomplishments.

• The battle over No Child Left Behind continued through the year, then fizzled, as Congress recessed for the year without making any needed changes or decisions.




• The results of several studies were published, mostly reporting the same dismal results for education in our public schools.




• Proposals for improving education were offered by several “think tanks” and “study groups”. Most of them were prohibitively expensive, offering 15-year frameworks for implementation.




• At least six studies reported that test scores from NCLB were inflated or “gamed”, meaning that even the so-called improvements are suspect.




• Numerous articles appeared that documented abuses in testing and grading, and firing of teachers that protested or publicized these discrepancies.




• Report after report showed USA students falling farther and farther behind, compared to other countries.




• Dropout rates continue at an all-time high, up to 75% in some urban areas (that’s 3 out of every 4 students dropping-out).

Not a very promising state of affairs that we saw in 2007.

So now we are looking at school reconvening in 2008, after the ‘Winter break’. Will the deterioration continue? Or, is there hope that public education in the USA will improve during 2008?

The fact that 2008 is a Presidential Election year offers an opportunity for our schools, students, and USA public education to go either way.

With the primaries being so much earlier than ever before, I don’t see how Congress will get a bipartisan amendment to NCLB passed. Although I am not a fan of NCLB, because I believe it has replaced real teaching with testing, it does force some accountability (along with all the cheating). An improved NCLB would be better for the country than what we currently have. Since partisanship is normally at a very high level in congress, I don’t see how trying to achieve a consensus in a hotly-contested election year is even realistic. But, I could be wrong.

One factor that could force education improvement would be to make it a ‘hot button’ during the 2008 campaigns. What do the candidates propose for education reform? Do you have any idea? Do you know what your preferred candidate, or candidates, believe about education in the USA?

So far, I’ve heard campaign pitches that offer some pretty dead-end solutions. Everything from vouchers-as-the-solution to all-new-teachers, even homeschooling-rather-than-public-schools. NO candidate has presented a workable solution and we’re letting them get away with it.

In 2008, we have to wake up as a nation and realize that our future is in jeopardy. Poor education results are a matter of national security, not just family pride. How will our students compete in a global marketplace when they can’t read or write or do math calculations? Unless things change, only the privileged few, with parents able to afford private school, will stand a chance. Is that type of elitist system one we want to perpetuate and settle for?

What we need is a nationwide, grassroots movement to FORCE education reform. Groups like EDin08 are supposed to be pushing education into the front of the campaign agenda. Though they have zillions of dollars at their disposal (courtesy of the backing of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with major contributions by Eli Broad and Warren Buffett) so far all we’ve seen from them is a few videos and a bunch of black t-shirts mailed out across the country. If you saw the first video on YouTube, starring Kanye West, then you may also have taken the time to read the negative comments it has evoked. And there is still very little discussion about education by the candidates.

We contacted several candidates about the workable education reform plan spelled-out in “Set Our Teachers FREE! A Plan to Save Public Education” by Don Kingsland. From the book, he distilled a proven workable plan that he is humbly calling The Kingsland Plan, which details proven techniques and a reorganization of personnel, curriculum and accountability. The plan is simple, workable and could be implemented nationwide quickly. No candidate even bothered to look at the plan, even when we met with them in person.

We need parents and teachers and taxpayers to become informed and aware. THERE IS A PROBLEM, even if you think you are in an excellent school district. Our BEST students made a very poor showing in international competition. Our BEST schools aren’t good enough.

We need parents and teachers and taxpayers to understand that billions of dollars are being wasted on school programs that are not only non-productive, but actually detrimental to student achievement and motivation.

The system isn’t working. We need to get united to FORCE change to help our students and our schools to excel.

You can help. 2008 is coming. Let’s resolve to make it a year of POSITIVE change and improvement.

Brennan

Filed under: Education Reform