Not a lot about education in the President’s speech last night…we always get short shrift! Ha ha.
Anyway, there is a big education implication coming out of the new policy. Namely, if the President has the left upset over his Afghanistan policy, left and center upset for different reasons about health care reform, and the left only lukewarm, at best, on his education policies then what gets thrown under the political bus when/if the political going gets really tough in 2010? Hint: It is not the two that people actually vote on in national elections. In practice that means policies that don’t sit well with suburban voters (for instance accountability policies that reflect the underachievement of kids of color in suburban schools) or that are disliked by education special interest groups (where do you even start on that list) could face a hard time.
Implications for how strong the policies are and what ESEA reuthorization looks like.
In President Obama’s speeches, books and spontaneous remarks (e.g. his Malia story), he has demonstrated a good grasp of the complexity involved in giving someone a good education. Like most people in the education community, he knows that substantive improvement in education will require a partnership between student, parent and teacher. He undoubtedly knows that there are no simplistic solutions.
Charters can free teachers to do what is best for students without undue interference from politicians, tycoons, and bureaucrats, but it’s imperative that these schools remain nonprofit and under careful scrutiny in regard to finances. The story in the Los Angeles Times today regarding the questionable spending and high salary of Green Dot founder serves as a warning of what can happen if corporate America is allowed access to school tax dollars. If we allow continued expansion of these schools without careful financial oversight, we are just asking for another Wall Street debacle.
Yes, I agree that President Obama will support our nation’s teachers because his educational philosophy is similar to to that of the education community.