Trouble Lurking Ahead for Obama's Education Focus

[Little Star]

Source: ABC News/Associated Press

Signs of trouble are arising for President Barack Obama's plan to put education overhaul at the forefront of his agenda as he adjusts to the new reality of a divided government.

Giving students and teachers more flexibility is an idea with bipartisan support. Yet the debate about the overdue renewal of the nation's chief education law, known as No Child Left Behind, is complicated by political pressures from the coming 2012 presidential campaign and disputes over timing, money and scope of the update.

While education might offer the best chance for the White House to work with newly empowered Republicans, any consensus could fade in the pitiless political crosscurrents, leaving the debate for another day, perhaps even another presidency.

If so, parents, teachers and students would labor under a burdensome set of testing guidelines and other rules that many say are lowering standards.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=12621853

[boston bean]

1. We can only hope it fades in the pitiless political currents. nt

[earthside]

2. We're scewed either way.

The Obama/Duncan/Bush/Spellings "reforms" are just terrible ... so, it is good that these will get no traction in Congress.

But, of course, the Repuglican idea to "privatize" all public education immediately (instead of slowly as the Obama/Duncan plan would do it) is a crappy plan, too.

Education is just stuck -- too many Washington, D.C.-types trying to tell us what to do with our children -- instead of our local school boards having the freedom to make policy that is good for us.

[AlbertCat]

4. instead of our local school boards having the freedom to make policy that is good for us.

Yeah.... like redefining "Science". :eyes:

[earthside]

6. It's about proximity.

I can vote for or against my local board member.

I can agree with her, yell at her, watch her at meetings, etc.

Have you ever tried to talk to a bureaucrat at the federal Department of Education about policy ... ha!

[No Elephants]

20. Yes, but what does that do if your local school board member is in Kentucky or West Texas?

[Patchuli]

7. And worst of all

is the disservice these people are doing to our students. Kids are so tired of the testing, they are getting turned off to education altogether. Too bad all these 'experts' including Duncan are clueless about how to best serve the students.

[AlbertCat]

3. You'll notice, no trouble for any military focus.

[HankyDubs]

5. improving flexibility for teachers

by cutting our wages some more.

[Patchuli]

8. Don't forget our furlough days!

Classified staff here...

[Still a Democrat]

9. I guess my first concern is kids

not wages or days off.

[montanto]

12. Lowering wages hurts morale.

Low morale effects kids. I had twelve furlough days last year. That effects my wages too, but I can never get those 12 days of class time back at any price. Lost class time effects what kids learn. Overcrowded classrooms effect what kids learn.

When teachers talk about furlough days and wages they are talking about things that effect students, not merely their own pocketbooks.

[Still a Democrat]

13. Higher wages make for more crowded classrooms

Not clear on the furlough days - did they result in fewer days in the classroom? But again, higher wages could drive these.

[U4ikLefty]

18. Lowered funding makes for more crowded classrooms.

Just thought I'd clear that up for ya.

[roody]

16. Days off are days off for kids also.

What is the purpose of driving down the wages of teachers? Why should it not be a middle-class profession?

[No Elephants]

22. I'm with you on wages, but think our kids get more days off than other nations.

Our kids are falling behind.

We are not an agrarian society anymore, and schools can now be air-conditioned. No longer any sane reason for a 180 day school year, especially for older kids.

[No Elephants]

21. No correlation between wages of teachers and others and how kids fare?

You really have to be an idealist to be smart and skilled, yet willing to work a job that pays less than you could get in anocher career.

[groundloop]

10. Has ANYONE taken a good hard look at education systems of other countries?

The US education system is pretty far down in world rankings right now, so there should be plenty of opportunity for us to learn from how other countries educate their children.

So far I haven't heard many ideas I like from either side of this debate, though it's obvious things must change.

My kids were able to attend a Montessori school for their early elementary years and I was very impressed with that. I feel that more of that type of instruction and less teaching for the sole purpose of passing standardized tests would be a good start.

[Igel]

14. Oh, yes.

They have.

"They" come up with different observations, depending on their domestic politics. Recently Finland made the news because it doesn't do high-stakes testing. It does a lot of things differently, but the op-ed in question really tried to make the case that it was testing and a few other things that accounted for Finland's academic success--mostly by omitting all the unpleasant facts that don't fit the thesis. Problem is that you can still find really successful countries that do all the things we do that Finland doesn't do, i.e., counterexamples to the op-ed. Yet those successful countries still pretty much do everything Finland does do.

Thing is, nearly universally the top-achieving countries do things that would almost certainly have very nasty class and racial consequences in the US. They do in those countries with racial tensions, but not to the extent we'd have them here. They also conflict with some cultural norms.

Take for instance the tendency to have a split educational system. Or the need for testing and evaluations to guarantee entrance into an academic/college-track program. Or the limitation on university spots. These go deeply against the one-size-fits-all attitude and anti-tracking philosophy from many education theorists, as well as the quasi-laissez-faire college system we have.

There are also differences in the students and how the teachers and students work together between the US and those countries. Many low-achieving students have parents who either view the teachers as the enemy or who view their kid's education as being entirely the responsibility of the teachers. (Teachers also sometimes view the parents as the enemies and the unions' rhetoric is often that if you pay us more then your kids' education is entirely "our" responsibility--leave it to the professionals.)

Etc.

[Hardrada]

19. All Finnish teachers are unionized. The Des Moines Register

stopped covering the good qualities of Finnish education when that fact came to light!

[DumpDavisHogg]

11. If Obama supports school uniforms...

Then I'm never voting Democratic again.

Just a reminder.

[roody]

17. I love school uniforms. My public school "requires" them to the best

of its ability. I wear it every day as well. I teach fifth grade.

[roody]

15. We teachers are already laboring under a burdensome set of testing guidelines.