Congress has spent the last four decades appropriating massive amounts of money to try to even out the educational experiences that disadvantaged children receive compared to their more fortunate peers.
And in return for that long-term, multi-billion-dollar investment, we have gottenmore disappointment. Most states show continuing gaps in achievement between poor and middle-class kids, and between white and minority students. Meanwhile, our students are falling behind those of other countries.
So when President Bush rode into Washington with a handful of fresh ideas, a pocketful of carrots and sticks, and an education track record in Texas to back them up, it was a welcome sight. The centerpiece of his agenda is annual student testing and a lowering of the national tolerance for consistently lousy schools.
The U.S. Senate is close to approving a new education bill, similar to one already passed by the House, that incorporates much of that agenda. Particulars of the legislation likely will give us a more precise accounting of just how badly our students are doing. Other provisions will penalize underperforming schools by cutting their federal funding and requiring changes in how they operate.
The real question is, will the legislation improve schools?
The federal government supplies less than 10 percent of the money for public education. As negotiations continue over the legislation, debates over money and how it gets spent inevitably will start crowding out the major concerns that brought everyone to the table in the first place.
As a nation, we expect too little of our students.
We expect too little of their parents.
We don’t hold teachers sufficiently responsible for student improvement.
We don’t provide enough incentives and support for educators to develop professionally.
Our schools are crumbling.
We don’t give parents, particularly low-income parents, enough choice among schools if their child is stuck in a lousy one.
The education bill likely to come out of Congress is a strong start at addressing those problems, but only a start. The danger is in thinking that what is likely to be signed into law this year will live up to the glowing predictions of those who see it as a panacea. Congress will have much more to do in future years if it is to help states and local school districts deliver the better educations that all children deserve.
A true overhaul requires a combination of approaches, many of which still are considered taboo to the education establishment: pay incentives for teachers, charter schools and experiments with vouchers for low-income students.
On Tuesday a controversial amendment that would have provided $50 million toward helping 10 cities and three states create a private school voucher program for low-income students met its expected demise in the Senate. Instead, a compromise would allow students in failing schools to use federal funding to pay for private tutoring, or to transfer to other public schools.
The education bill likely to land on Bush’s desk helps to set a tone: Public education in this country must improve–especially for students trapped in the worst, most lackadaisical schools. But serious reform will come only when Congress and the states are willing to break those taboos.
