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Give up resistance to school reform

Anybody in Indiana available to answer these yahoos who use federal money as their touchstone to morality?

by Editorial

Can Indiana's schools win the race to the top? There's a lot at stake in the climb, and it's about far more than the promise of federal prize money that will be awarded to the victors.
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President Barack Obama on Friday offered states billions of dollars in new grants if they embrace innovation in their schools, improve teacher quality and raise academic standards.

Indiana may have two advantages over other states as it competes for "Race to the Top'' dollars. One, its academic standards are among the best in the nation. Two, the General Assembly, after considerable debate, resisted the temptation to slow the growth of charter schools. (Obama even singled out Indiana for compliment because it didn't cap charters.)

Yet, the state also has been resistant to some of the reforms Obama is touting, including tying teacher evaluations to student performance.

If the president's financial incentives can break down such resistance, then it will be money well invested.

A study released this week indicates that many educators are ready for changes that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The New Teacher Project, which surveyed 85 percent of principals and 75 percent of teachers in Indianapolis Public Schools, uncovered some startling results. For instance, about 75 percent of teachers said factors such as teacher attendance and classroom management should rank ahead of seniority in considering layoffs. More than half of teachers said they were willing to be rated in part on their students' performance.

However, those reforms and others are unlikely to be welcomed in the General Assembly, where the state's teachers unions wield undue influence.

Perhaps Obama can change that dynamic. He is, after all, a popular Democratic president, elected on the mantra of change, including within the moss-bound education establishment. Most opponents to education reform in Indiana are themselves Democrats, who have lost a now-discredited argument that it's only conservative Republicans who want to shake up public schools by encouraging competition and restraining unions' power.

"Not every state will win and not every school district will be happy with the results,'' the president said about his push for education reform. "But America's children, America's economy, America itself will be better for it.''

May the leaders in Indiana's Statehouse and its schoolhouses listen.

— Editorial
Indianapolis Star
2009-07-30
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20090730/OPINION01/907300341

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