Thanks to the folks over at This Week in Education, we learn that the Broad and Gates Foundations have decided to end funding for their joint Strong American Schools/Ed in 08 initiative. When it was launched a year and a half ago, SAS leaders pledged to place education atop the list of policy issues discussed and debated during the 2008 presidential debate. Since then, the mortgage debacle, greater attention on environmentalism (thanks to Al Gore’s Nobel), rising consumer costs, and now the latest financial industry crisis, education just hasn’t gotten the foothold it deserved in election politics.
We all recognize that education is not going to be a major player over the next month. It won’t be a major focus of tomorrow’s VP debate. It won’t drive the two remaining presidential showdowns. It is unlikely it will be the topic of a campaign commercial or of third-party spending from PACs and special interest groups. So the decision makes practical sense in our impractical political world.
What has SAS left us with? First and foremost, it has provided a network for dialogue. By SAS’ own statistics, the organization has hosted more than 800 meetings around the country to discuss the needs in public education. They’ve placed articles and opeds in leading newspapers. They’ve supported advertising campaigns. And they’ve gotten both campaigns to think about education issues, at least to the extent where they have built strong education policy teams and are already thinking through transition issues.
When the books are closed on Ed in 08, it will have spent slightly more than a third of total funds originally intended for the effort. By now, though, we all realize that money doesn’t buy results. Thanks to the Puget Sound Business Journal, we know approximately $24 million has been spent on this initiative. Instead of asking about the remaining $36 million, we should focus on where the money spent has gotten us. More importantly, are we better off now than we were 18 months ago?
As education reformers, we have to believe that the answer is yes. Beyond the quantifiable results that SAS will document in the coming months, the effort has demonstrated that there is interest in a national debate on the future of education. We have demonstrated that people do care about the fate of our public schools, the choices we can make, the power we have to change and improve what is available to our kids and our communities.
Just as important, though, SAS has shown us the most important part of education reform — the need for clear goals and the need for a clear call to action. If Ed in 08 had any shortcoming, it was that it refused to advocate for a particular position. Yes, raising awareness is important, particularly when we are talking about raising awareness about the current state of the American public school system. But awareness is just the first step on the road to success.
What SAS lacked, and what so many education organizations must now take up, is a clear call to action. SAS informed. It sought to build commitment for that information. The lacking piece, however, was mobilizing the community to take specific action. To change public thinking. To change public behavior. To change our public schools.
Moving forward, the Gates and Broad Foundations are left with infinite options. They have made an unwavering commitment to improving the quality and outcomes of public education throughout the United States. More than ever, those resources must be committed to programs that can be replicated and duplicated. They must be committed to programs that can be adopted by school after school, district after district, and state after state. They must be results-based, with an emphasis on data and accountability. They must make a difference, both today and for the long term.
Now, we must look for ways to build on the work of SAS and Ed in 08, ensuring that we learn and move forward from what has been learned. Ed in 08 must not be yet another initiative that is boxed up and put away, not to be looked at again. Let’s tap the energy, the network, and the possibility to move from raising awareness to making a difference.
Eduflack By Patrick R. Riccards 