Ed in ’08 is spending tens of millions of dollars to move education reform to the forefront of the 2008 presidential debates. Richard Whitmire and the Education Writers Association are flooding the early primary states, calling on the presidential candidates to stand up and articulate their education platforms. Strong resources, smart folks, proven tactics, and unwavering commitment. All the components we say need to be in a successful PR campaign.
Despite that, education reform is still barely moving the rhetorical needle in the presidential campaigns. We all agree a strong K-12 education is necessary for life success, necessary for a good job, and necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century global economy. Good education allows us to focus on issues like health care, jobs, the environment, public safety, and the like. Education is the gateway to the issues that dominate both our worries and our hopes for ourselves and our families.
So why can’t we get those seeking our vote to talk about such an important issue? Are they still formulating their opinions and policies on student achievement, assessment, teacher quality, and the like? Or do they fail to see the benefit of speaking on what could be controversial topics to their political bases?
Eduflack would like it to be the former. I’d love to think that ed policy advisors are in Chicago and New York and Albuquerque and Charlotte and Boston and New York and all cities in between, hard at work on ways to improve preK, ELL, teacher training, reading, and college preparedness issues. I’d be thrilled to know that come the start of the school year, we will see new proposals for strengthening NCLB, for universal preK, for improving graduation rates. I want to believe that ed reform train is coming quickly down the tracks.
But I’m not hearing the whistle and I’m not seeing the lights. And that makes me worry the reason for this quiet period is the latter. Democrats don’t want to offend teachers unions by talking about accountability and improving NCLB. Republicans don’t want to talk about the federal role in education. And neither want to talk about the financial costs, the political commitment, and the hard realities that come with meaningful school improvement.
I urge, I dare, I beg the candidates to prove me wrong. Senator Clinton, let’s continue talking about preK. Senator Obama, I want to hear more about your after school/summer school plans. Governors Richardson and Huckabee and Romney, let’s hear about the recent improvements in student achievement in your states. Tell us the stories of what you’ve done and what you dream of doing to improve our schools and give all kids the skills, knowledge, and hope they need to be the successes we all want them.
We deserve Lincoln-Douglass style discussions on the future of public education in the United States, not a 30-second soundbite coming the night before the primary. Step up to the stump. We’ve kept it warm for you.
Despite that, education reform is still barely moving the rhetorical needle in the presidential campaigns. We all agree a strong K-12 education is necessary for life success, necessary for a good job, and necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century global economy. Good education allows us to focus on issues like health care, jobs, the environment, public safety, and the like. Education is the gateway to the issues that dominate both our worries and our hopes for ourselves and our families.
So why can’t we get those seeking our vote to talk about such an important issue? Are they still formulating their opinions and policies on student achievement, assessment, teacher quality, and the like? Or do they fail to see the benefit of speaking on what could be controversial topics to their political bases?
Eduflack would like it to be the former. I’d love to think that ed policy advisors are in Chicago and New York and Albuquerque and Charlotte and Boston and New York and all cities in between, hard at work on ways to improve preK, ELL, teacher training, reading, and college preparedness issues. I’d be thrilled to know that come the start of the school year, we will see new proposals for strengthening NCLB, for universal preK, for improving graduation rates. I want to believe that ed reform train is coming quickly down the tracks.
But I’m not hearing the whistle and I’m not seeing the lights. And that makes me worry the reason for this quiet period is the latter. Democrats don’t want to offend teachers unions by talking about accountability and improving NCLB. Republicans don’t want to talk about the federal role in education. And neither want to talk about the financial costs, the political commitment, and the hard realities that come with meaningful school improvement.
I urge, I dare, I beg the candidates to prove me wrong. Senator Clinton, let’s continue talking about preK. Senator Obama, I want to hear more about your after school/summer school plans. Governors Richardson and Huckabee and Romney, let’s hear about the recent improvements in student achievement in your states. Tell us the stories of what you’ve done and what you dream of doing to improve our schools and give all kids the skills, knowledge, and hope they need to be the successes we all want them.
We deserve Lincoln-Douglass style discussions on the future of public education in the United States, not a 30-second soundbite coming the night before the primary. Step up to the stump. We’ve kept it warm for you.
Eduflack By Patrick R. Riccards 