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Time is ripe to fix education, experts assert
The subhead says An eclectic mix of officials is out to put schools front and center in this fall's politics. Here's what a Denver teacher says: "I work in DPS and I got as far as the words Joel Klein and I want to know why anyone would wish to emulate the fiasco that is NY City Public Schools. And for the record I belong to the DCTA (Denver Classroom Teachers Association) and 1) there is nothing they do to inhibit the "achievement" of students and 2) I want my union to look out for me so I can do the hard work of being a public school teacher without worrying and/or looking over my shoulder to satisfy some adminstrator desire to overwork/abuse/misuse my time at school."
Ohanian Comment: The Denver Post calls this an eclectic mix. I call it an opportunistic mix.
By Allison Sherry
Fixing the nation's schools is the civil-rights priority of this century because so many of them — particularly those serving poor kids — are not delivering high-quality service, a group of prominent city, civil-rights and education leaders said Sunday.
In the lobby of one of Denver's sterling charter schools, New York City schools chief Joe Klein, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, state Senate President Peter Groff and Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, among others, said they would do whatever it takes to push education onto the crowded political agenda this fall.
"It's hard to imagine another environment or another endeavor where so many people invest so many resources ... with so little success," Hickenlooper said at a media briefing at the Denver School for Science and Technology. "We've been so slow."
In Denver, a little more than half of the students who start school finish with a high-school diploma. Statewide, about one in five ninth-graders will graduate from college within six years of enrolling.
The national movement, called the Education Equality Project, began a little more than a month ago with Klein and civil-rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton. In a short time, it has attracted an odd cast of bedfellows such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer and a handful of urban superintendents and pastors across the country.
The group's message: In the last generation and a half, education has become too much about serving adults.
"It's children we need to worry about," Klein said. "Even if they graduate, they're woefully unprepared. ... Every kid should get a shot at the American dream. It's not about politics."
By that, Klein and others generally mean the long-standing chasm in the Democratic Party on education reform, which creates tension with national teachers unions.
Several of the solutions Klein and others are pushing for — more autonomous charter schools, paying teachers on merit and on which jobs they take rather than seniority, and holding them directly accountable for how well kids do in class — draw sharp rebuke from city teachers unions.
Of the long list of supporters of the advocacy project, no one from the American Federation of Teachers or the National Education Association has signed on in support.
"If this means tackling union politics, we're willing to do that," Klein said.
Colorado Senate President Groff agreed.
"I applaud Sen. (Barack) Obama saying to unions we need to do things better," he said.
The Colorado Education Association had no comment about Sunday's briefing.
The year is ripe for a debate about changing the nation's education systems, education advocates say, because there are so many examples nationally of schools working well.
Experts working on seemingly intractable problems of high dropout rates and chronic underachievement among poor students can point to schools in cities all over — including Denver — where these kids are excelling.
"In every sector of the education-reform movement, there are examples of success," said Michael Johnston, a prominent high school principal in Mapleton Public Schools, and an education adviser to presidential hopeful Obama.
Generally, that means intense accountability on principals and teachers for student success, and a sharp emphasis on teacher quality.
The Education Equality Project will circle back to Denver for a bigger rally at the Democratic National Convention. It also will go to Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention.
The group is not endorsing one candidate, Klein said. "I want the candidates to endorse us."
Jennifer Gonzalez, who has four kids in some of the poorest schools in Denver, said Sunday that none of them aspires to work in fast food or as a janitor.
"Our kids want more," she said. "And they deserve it."
— Allison Sherry
Denver Post
2008-07-14
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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