Charter Schools Can Close the Education Gap

by Arthur Rothkopf

Joel Klein and Al Sharpton should be commended for their open-letter in the Wall Street Journal today to President-Elect Barack Obama as he determines the role of his administration in education. The non-partisan Education Equality Project (EEP) is an extraordinary example of how politics can and should be removed when dealing with the urgent issues of our children and the future of our nation.

It is our hope that President-Elect Obama will use the measuring stick proposed by Mr. Klein and Rev. Sharpton for education policy – "Does a policy advance student learning?"  This simple question places the emphasis of education back with the students in the system, and not the adults. This is the only way we can hope to reach the goal of ensuring that all Americans receive the education they deserve and that the achievement of all students once again becomes a point of national pride and honor.

Comments

[Jill S. Levy, AFSA National President]

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Klein and Sharpton miss the point. What our public schools need are dedicated, intelligent and well-trained leaders that have the appropriate skills to transform the current malaise into well-equipped schools dedicated to all of their students and alive with enthusiasm. In order to overcome the challenge of our public education systems, we must have school leadership trained and supported in areas not yet recognized by governance and control-focused district leaders.

Whether the group that has signed on to EEP actually understands the nature and extent of the "change" required by schools to get to where we would all like to be or if they have simply bought into the most simplistic answer - having "teachers, teachers, teachers" is clearly not THE answer.

After all is said, our public school Superintendents and Chancellors, mayors and legislators miss the point. What we need first and foremost are school and subject area leaders, leaders, leaders! Then, we can talk about how our schools can nurture, train, sustain and professionalize our wonderful teachers.

- Jill S. Levy, AFSA National President, the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA)

[Quyen Arana]

Research does indicate that education requires more than good teachers. It requires a community commitment. As long as schools remain isolated entities in which we expect our children to be locked in a building, only to emerge educated, we will will miss the mark. No amount of money, good teachers, small classes, nor innovative solutions will fix education if we continue to assume, as a society, "it's not our problem" but rather the problem of the "system". We are the system. If we are to look at schools that excel, we must look at the communities that support the school. Research into professional learning communities has given tremendous insight into what works, for example: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0040%2d5841&volume=47&issue=4&spage=294

This is but one example of research driven practices. We have acknowledged that advances in medical care require extensive research, poured billions into NIH and insured safety through FDA regulation. Is the education of our children not worthy of the same insight? How long will we continue to throw educational prescriptions at the schools written by policy makers? Before we create more policies that focus on narrow content assessments, we need to make use of existing educational research and continue to fund additional research. The educational paradigm that exists today is based on what we knew of learning in the 19th century. It's time we advance.

Let's give education the same attention as we have medicine.