Thoughts on Bush’s Education Comments
First of all, I recommend anyone aggravated by the political word game to check out the Annenberg Political Fact Check at www.factcheck.org It’s a nice resource because their approach is simply that they are ripping through the rhetoric and word games to provide actual facts. It appears to be completely non-partisan. Although it is arguable that the position of seeking “truth” indicates a bias toward believing that there is an objective believable truth…but we have to start somewhere.
I was surprised to see that at factcheck.org, Bush has not cut funding to education: Bush Education Ad: Going Positive, Selectively . However the article also points out that the increase is not enough for schools to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements. Another perspective on the current levels of funding is here. I was shocked last semester to discover that ultimately with No Child Left Behind, if students are not passing the mandated standardized tests, funding will be cut to the school and parents can send their children elsewhere. At face value, this can sound alluring. Sure, people have choices, that’s fabulous. But this puts tremendous pressure on schools to hide “problem kids” away. Get rid of low-performing linguistic minorities or kids from rough backgrounds. Or kids with learning disabilities that aren’t “special needs” enough to be exempt from testing. Even better, parents of those children might not understand their choices to move their children.
But beyond that, how demoralizing would it be to work and learn in that kind of environment.
But this line in particular bothered me in light of the Measuring Up Report 2002, which I heard a presentation on from a professor at the University of Virginia. The tenor of the presentation as a result of the findings was that standards ARE necessary, but if we are trying to measure the progress of schools, testing every child every year (which I believe is the situation in Virginia) is not the most effective allocation of time and financial resources. If understanding how the school is doing, a randomized sample of kids should be able to effectively measure that and not put so much stress on kids.
Pres. Bush said the following:
This path begins with our youngest Americans. To build a more hopeful America, we must help our children reach as far as their vision and character can take them. Tonight, I remind every parent and every teacher, I say to every child: No matter what your circumstance, no matter where you live — your school will be the path to the promise of America.
That speaks to the other concept I took about from the presentation…the single most important indicator of a child’s chances of educational success is determined by their zip code. I have had that confirmed from a friend of mine from Lousiana who is shocked at the educational opportunities available here compared to LA.
