LET’S GET REFORM RIGHT THIS TIME
Op-Ed By Gary D. Bixhorn and Susan A. Schnebel
Agreement is emerging among parents, politicians and educators that public education in New York State has been pushed and pulled in the wrong direction over the past few years. The federal government pushed the State to adopt the flawed Race to the Top reform agenda by tying federal education aid to the acceptance of the agenda. The State government then put laws and regulations in place to pull our schools into compliance with the overreaching federal initiative. It’s the state’s implementation of this federal agenda that’s generated so much dissent within the educational community and ultimately resulted in a public revolt in the form of the opt-out movement.
All parties that have been involved in this incredibly flawed process should have learned one key lesson- a parent will not let their child’s education become an academic research project or a campaign platform. Parents expect schools to provide a safe, secure environment where teaching and leaning is fostered and protected. It’s now the time to give parents what they expect and students what they deserve; schools meeting high standards, with outstanding teachers and rich program offerings.
Clearly, our leaders have recognized that it’s time to “hit the reset button” on reform efforts. President Obama has reversed course on a key component of his Race to the Top agenda and proposed a cap on student testing. Key members of the state legislature are beginning to voice support for a moratorium on new legislative requirements involving testing and teacher evaluation in accordance with a recommendation of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. Both the Governor and the State Education Commissioner have recently formed advisory councils to help sort out the tangled web of issues that has been created.
We cannot delay in taking advantage of the unique opportunity that a moratorium offers. We have an unusual second chance, a chance to “get it right”. This time we must approach the issues in an inclusive, collaborative manner. In order to do this we have to identify the key issues and assign responsibility appropriately for addressing each of them. What are the issues? Simply stated, they include the adoption and introduction of higher educational standards, appropriate student assessment, meaningful teacher evaluation, equitable school finance and state support, turning around failing schools, and serving student populations with unique needs. A comprehensive, coordinated approach to addressing statewide needs in each of these six areas should begin without delay. The Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education in concert with the Governor and legislative leaders should begin to draw up a plan to bring together stakeholders in these areas to initiate the process.
Since the Governor and the Commissioner have already convened panels to do some of this work, the members of the panels should be reassigned to this larger effort. Every work group should include nationally recognized experts in the area of focus, as well as parents and seasoned practitioners. The work group looking into school finance and state support should include representatives of the Governor and the legislature to assure that their work is tied to the reality of the state’s budgeting process.
Overall coordination of the effort should be within a structure agreed upon by the Governor, legislative leaders and the Board of Regents. This isn’t as complicated as it may sound because so much effort has been expended in working through recent difficulties. There are many people who have a wealth of experience in dealing with these issues who would willingly contribute to such an effort. We already know what the problems are; we’ve already made our mistakes. We should take advantage of our recent experience and immediately begin a comprehensive, coordinated, inclusive and transparent process and “get it right” this time. The stakes are far too high to delay.