Presidential candidates need to give us their K12 improvement plans, stat.
—
In following the 2016 presidential nomination bonanza, I’ve been consistently disappointed in the lack of discussion around our public school system. The one attention-grabber in the vast arena of Education was Hillary Clinton’s proposal to make higher education free. Bernie Sanders has long been advocating tuition-free universities, and of course they’ve been around over in Europe for decades.
It may be a new idea to America, but it is not a new idea full stop. Nor is it in any way the most important issue, in this writer’s opinion. Small, expensive liberal arts schools are shutting down – Sweet Briar College was the big story in 2015, but it is not an anomaly. Students have been regularly pushed towards practical career choices, and majoring in Philosophy or English has been out of style for years now.
In other words, the college bubble is on the verge of bursting. It’s already begun losing air, and losing it fast. Between rising expenses and MOOCs, it would be ludicrous to expect Higher Ed to continue on the way it has for the past century.
I’m all for students having access to affordable education, but it frightens me to imagine thousands of professors out of work, and liberal arts funding completely gone.
|
My hope is to see the best and brightest brains focus on how to assuage the inevitable pain such a transformation will bring. I’m all for students having access to affordable education, but it frightens me to think of thousands of professors out of work, and funding for liberal arts dried up completely.
Can we avoid that? Who knows. Two major discrepancies I have with the “Free College for All!” crowd are these: 1) Should all taxpayers have to fund degrees that will primarily benefit the academically minded among us? And 2) Free college has not helped European Millennials get jobs. In fact, the unemployment rate for young people in Europe is much higher than that in the US, looming over 50% in Spain. A Portuguese friend told me their president literally told young people to leave the country; Portugal had nothing to offer them.
◊♦◊
Call me a cynic, but I suspect the talk of revolutionizing Higher Ed may be a way to avoid offering specifics about improving K12 Education. And that is where our failure to offer everyone an excellent school and learning experience is the most appalling, and most in need of attention.
So I’d like to see presidential candidates let the college system work itself out (it will), and tell us what they plan on doing about the dismal state of K12 Education.
For instance: Since ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) is now in effect, how do presidential candidates plan on ensuring that students are not ignored? How do they plan on holding schools accountable?
In a recent piece at The Atlantic, MIT professor Joshua Angrist warned:
Our research team and other colleagues have repeatedly and rigorously shown the power of this approach [testing] to produce life-changing gains for students who would otherwise do poorly (the “No Excuses” moniker refers to schools and not students: No excuses allowed for a failure to educate). I’m worried because the foundations of this success are under attack: The federal government and many districts now propose to limit the testing that provides essential feedback and accountability. And it has been regular, reliable testing that’s laid the empirical foundation for discussions of school quality and educational inequality.
It does strike this writer as sheer incoherence on the part of politicians who say they want to help students, to roll back the one proven measure of student improvement. So I’d like to know what all presidential candidates have to offer in place of standardized testing.
Additionally, I’d like to hear how these potential future POTUS nominees plan on incentivizing schools to innovate. And I am not talking about handing out iPads or teaching every student how to code.
I am talking about real, adult ways of recognizing excellence in teaching, and putting in place a path to actual teacher termination.
|
I am talking about extending the school year, or giving teachers two weeks every quarter to grade, reflect, and plan. I am talking about real, adult ways of recognizing excellence in teaching, and putting a path to actual teacher termination in place.
When I am asked what is wrong with public education, I usually reply with the Octopus metaphor. Every time you address one problem, seven other tentacles rise up against you.
Our inability to promote great teachers and remove poor ones has been ailing our public school system for far too long. Just doing that will not fix everything, but it would be nice to take the issues down by one tentacle at least.
So candidates, let’s hear your 2016 proposals.
—
Photo: Flickr/Phil Roeder