You Decide ‘09: Outdated promises or real reform?
Arriving home on Saturday afternoon after running some errands, my hands were full of bags as I encountered a father and son at my door. Ah yes, campaign season is in full swing!
Since my hands were full, and I was eager to unload my groceries, I didn’t stop to talk to the pair- simply thanked them for their time, and they were back on their way.
After the fact, I wished I had stopped the father and son to talk- and more specifically, ask them what their candidate proposed to do to improve the son’s education- to improve education for all of Virginia’s kids. Now I know that these were just two volunteers out with their prepared campaign lit (trust me, I’ve been there plenty there plenty of times myself), but it would have been interesting to hear what their “talking points” on education would have been. More funding? More teacher pay? More money in the classroom? Accountability? Sure, those may be good sound bites, but do they really improve education?
Well the folks at the Washington Post Editorial Board must have been reading my mind (which believe me, is a scary and pretty surreal thing, since I can certainly count on one hand the times the Post and I agree on things…) But sure enough, there was the Post, calling both candidates for governor to task and challenging them to stand up for real education reforms.
Their editorial: Old School in Virginia: Instead of making outdated promises, the gubernatorial candidates should be promoting education reform.
The Post makes the argument that while candidates’ pledges to raise teacher salaries might make a good sound-bite, there is no evidence that it will do anything to actually improve education. While it might be a good move in appeasing the teacher’s unions, it doesn’t equal results. Real education reforms are needed to create real results.
The Post did have some praise for Mr. McDonnell for part of his platform on education.
There are some glimpses of that willingness in the gubernatorial campaigns. We admire Mr. McDonnell’s outspoken support for charter schools; Mr. Deeds has interesting ideas on how to encourage people to become teachers in Virginia. Both see the need for toughening standards. Each says that he supports the concept of performance pay, Mr. McDonnell more convincingly than Mr. Deeds. But neither has fully developed proposals that he is really pushing.
Will Bob McDonnell or Creigh Deeds heed this advice and start promoting substantive reforms? Will they break free from the old school and give Virginians some 21st century solutions?
This year’s other elections up in New Jersey are already seeing education playing a bigger role in the campaigns. Also on Sunday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Schools fuel the NJ race for Governor.” The headline should have probably said “education” instead of “schools,” but that aside, it is clear that all 3 candidates in NJ are pushing hard on education and making it a priority in this campaign.
Virginia voters should also demand that education be a priority in the campaign, and not just the same old “outdated promises.” Our children deserve real solutions and real results- not sound-bites and the status quo.
We need innovation in education
Yesterday we posted Senator Kyl’s comments on the need for creative problem solving in education.
Cory Booker (mayor of Newark, NJ), John Doerr (partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers) and Ted Mitchell (chief executive of NewSchools Venture Fund and president of the California Board of Education) echo those sentiments and call for more innovation in education in their article, “Better education through innovation.”
The evidence for making a national commitment to innovation in educationis compelling. Today, many of the most promising solutions are emerging from entrepreneurial organizations that embrace freedom and accountability. Indeed, such social entrepreneurs represent a growing force. They have started nimble, typically nonprofit organizations that work in partnership with creative mayors and school superintendents.
Entrepreneurial charter schools such as KIPP, Uncommon Schools, Aspire, the Inner-City Education Foundation, the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools and Green Dot demonstrate what a single-minded focus on excellence can achieve with low-income students. These public schools, open to all students, are dedicated to the idea that college success and wide career choices must be a reality regardless of the ZIP Code of a child’s birth. And they are proving what’s possible, sending students from the poorest neighborhoods to college at rates typical of far more affluent communities.
ASC Recognizes Dem Supporters of School Choice
The Alliance for School Choice recognized Democratic supporters of school choice, including Newark, NJ Mayor Corey Booker and DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.
The Alliance for School Choice today hailed Democratic supporters of school choice, hundreds of whom stood together at events this week in Denver to decry a failed style of politics that has confined children to underperforming schools and prevented parents from exercising meaningful options.
The ASC has noted an increase in bipartisan support for school choice reforsm all across the country as leaders recognize that this isn’t about politics but about doing what is right for our children.
Notably, 40 percent of Democratic lawmakers backed a sweeping increase in Florida’s Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship (CTC) Program this year and the two primary sponsors of an opportunity scholarship program for New Orleans children were Democrat. Most recently, Democrats in New Jersey and Maryland have boldly introduced school choice legislation and vowed to carry it to passage.
Earlier this year, the Alliance for School Choice gave two of its inaugural leadership awards to Democrats. The State Executive of the Year Award was presented to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and the State Legislator of the Year Award was presented to Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans of Philadelphia.
