New Education Secretary Announced and Texas Program Takes Off

Yesterday on CNN, I was asked about the selection of Arne Duncan, the head of the Chicago school system, to be the next Secretary of Education.  I know Arne well.  He is a strong leader on education and is a superb choice.  Rather than tell you about the interview, though, I thought it might be better to let the video speak for itself:

Also, I wanted to share some good news that came out of Texas recently, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News.

After evaluating the Texas Educator Excellence Grant program – instituted two years ago to attract and reward those teachers who have taken on a high percentage of at-risk students, earned high ratings as teachers and propelled their students to success in math and reading – a recent report shows that 90% of eligible schools have joined the initiative and that teacher retention increased among those teachers whose performance was high enough to earn a bonus.

This is another sign pointing to the success of performance pay programs, confirming what we have long argued; increasing compensation for those teachers who do the best job – those who inspire our students to achieve and who take on hard to fill subjects and hard to fill schools – attracts teachers committed to success.

The Texas Educator Excellence Grant program is in its infancy and more must be done.  But this latest evidence, which we’ve seen duplicated in other states, makes clear that challenging the status quo gets results.

Can Obama Help Rhee?

"Can Obama help Rhee?" editorial page editor Fred Hiatt asks in today’s Washington Post.

Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has put the education establishment on notice: the status quo is not good enough.

Nowhere is this better seen than in a conservation Hiatt recounts between Rhee and a local principal defending a teacher Rhee had observed:

"Would you put your grandchild in that class?" Rhee asked the principal.

"If that's the standard, we don't have any effective teachers in my school," the principal replied.

As Hiatt notes, Rhee was still worked up about the conversation days later, stating, "That is the standard."

Rhee is fortunate.  Unlike many chancellors of failing school districts, she has the backing of her boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty, to do what is necessary to solve the community’s education crisis.

She has already seen success: test scores have risen and Rhee has worked to fix some of the nuts-and-bolts problems facing D.C. schools, such as teachers not receiving paychecks and providing every student with necessary textbooks.

Because of the uniqueness of federal governance over the District of Columbia, it will be difficult for some of Rhee’s reforms to succeed without the support of Congress and the Obama Administration.

This can start by providing support for core standards and teacher accountability, as well as much needed school funding, which Congress controls for Washington, D.C.

The local education reform movement, as led by Chancellor Rhee, is strong, but it cannot fix every problem on its own.  The relationship between the federal government and District of Columbia just doesn’t allow it.

Can Obama help Rhee?  Yes, he can.

CNN and the Wall Street Journal Focus on Education

Coming off the detailed discussion on education at the close of the final Presidential debate, we’ve seen the media pick up on the issue – and really delve into specifics.

Yesterday, I filmed a segment on education for CNN.  Time on television is fleeting.  In the new 24-hour news cycle, devoting nearly six minutes to a single issue – especially when economic news and campaign coverage rule the day – is strong in-depth coverage.  I was happy to discuss with them important issues such as quality teachers, college affordability and benchmarking standards to the best nations in the world.  I hope you’ll take a look:

Today, the Wall Street Journal offered a useful comparison on where the candidates stand on issues such as school choice, teachers, early childhood education and No Child Left Behind.

With so few days left in the campaign, we probably won’t hear much talk from the candidates on specific issues.  That’s why it’s important the media continue the discussion on important issues facing our nation.  All of the issues we face – the uncertain economy, national security, health care and so many others – have a common link: we can’t solve them without improving our schools and preparing the next generation of students.

Fixing Baltimore Schools

Few, if any, school districts in the nation are as troubled as Baltimore City’s.  The challenges the school district faces – crumbling school buildings, unsafe classrooms, chronic underperformance and low graduation rates – demonstrate what happens when a school district is all but abandoned.  Nowhere is this more obvious than in Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass Senior High School, which serves as a national example of inner city school decay.

That’s why the actions of Andres Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Schools, are encouraging.  Alonso knows that if we do not expect the best from our students, through exacting standards, testing and accountability, we ensure that another generation of Baltimore students graduates – if they make it to graduation – unprepared for college and life ahead.

As the Washington Post editorialized about Alosno’s fight for Baltimore City schools, “A high school diploma doesn’t do much good to the young man or woman who can’t read, can’t do math or doesn’t have the skills to get a good job.”

The editorial further points out the obstacles Alonso faces from those trying to weaken or delay new testing and graduation standards.  As he knows, a diploma has to mean something and if we do not buck the status quo that has written off entire school districts and generations of students, we will only get more of the same.

Our students, whether in Baltimore or any other part of the country, deserve better.

Gov. Jeb Bush Pushes Paying More for Teachers Who Teach

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has an opinion piece in the Washington Times that is necessary reading for anyone interested in improving our schools.

Governor Bush rightly makes the connection between the education crisis and the economic uncertainty we as a nation face: 

“The financial crisis also underscores the fact that the competition for capital has gone global.  Investment will follow the worthiest inventions and innovations around the world...The realization that America is not guaranteed the prosperity of the past should drive the discussion of important policies that will shape our future. At the top of the list is education.”

We need drastic improvement in our teaching corps.  Without quality teachers in every classroom, we risk falling further behind our peers throughout the world.  As a former Governor myself, I agree with Governor Bush that we need leadership in all 50 states if we are to solve this crisis.  As Governor Bush himself writes,

“America is at a tipping point on education. All schools - in all 50 states - must get better for our country's future. We need a 21st century education system for a 21st century world.”

Please take a few minutes to read this important piece by someone who has been a leader on education reform.

P.S.  My Strong American Schools colleague, Marc Lampkin, wrote a piece for the Huffington Post today that is worth reading, as well.

Residency Program Trains Quality Teachers

The current Education Week features a program that could serve as a model for school districts throughout the nation, the Boston Teacher Residency program . 

The cutting-edge program, similar to a medical residency, takes those from other fields of work and trains them to be quality teachers where they are needed most – the city’s most challenged schools.

The program has been a success.  As the article notes, the Aspen Institute, which is deeply committed to improving our schools, found:

“90 percent of the Boston graduates were still teaching after three years, and that more than half the recruits were from racial- and ethnic-minority groups. Also last month, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education released a report calling on traditional teacher education programs to embrace residencies.”

Similar programs are up and running in Denver suburban school districts and in Chicago.  But there is still more to be done.  By shaping similar programs in challenged school districts throughout the nation, we can improve teacher quality in the classroom and provide our students with real opportunity.

In the article, Katie Reinke, a graduate of the program and now a third-year teacher, says, “I get up at 5:30 each morning, but there is not a single day that I feel like I don’t want to go to work.”

We can all agree that our students would be better off with more teachers having that attitude.

An interview with Michelle Rhee

A Stong American Schools alumnus, Rachael Brown, has an interesting interview with Chancellor of the Washington D.C. public school system, Michelle Rhee.  In the interview, Rhee shares her experiences inside the classroom and as an adminstrator. 

One telling statement by Rhee gets to the heart of how we improve our schools - putting quality teachers in the classroom.  Rhee aruges, "I’ll tell you what de-professionalizes education. It’s when we have people sitting in the classrooms—whether they’re certified or not, whether they’ve taught for two months or 22 years—that are not teaching kids. And whom we cannot remove from the classroom, and whom parents know are not good. Those are the things that de-professionalize the teaching corp."

Please take a moment to read this illuminating interview.

Education Next Talks About Teacher Pay

The current issue of Education Next features a provocative in-depth article by Jacob Vigdor, a professor at Duke University and research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, on the issue of teacher compensation.

The article, entitled “$crap the $acrosanct $alary $chedule” makes a strong case for tying teacher pay to student performance – in essence, increasing pay for those teachers who do the best job educating our students.

While the entire article is worth reading – and will drive discussion on this important issue - there are two short excerpts I wanted to make sure you saw:

“The available evidence suggests that the connection between credentials and teaching effectiveness is very weak at best, and the connection between additional years of experience and teaching effectiveness, while substantial in the first few years in the classroom, attenuates over time.”

“The existing salary schedule rewards teachers too little for the substantial improvements they post in the first few years on the job, and too much for the later years of their career, when they show only incremental advances.  An evidence-based salary schedule would alter this arrangement, focusing the rewards on the early rungs of the experience ladder.”

Please take some time to read this thought-provoking article on a subject critical for improving our schools.

Washington Post Highlights Student Gains

The Washington Post today has an important story on recent gains by at-risk students in the Washington area.  The story explains how test scores for disadvantaged students have risen over the past six years.

We know that increased accountability, testing and better teaching will produce stronger students and allow us to better compare our students to their peers throughout the country and the world.  As the Post story demonstrates, this can be true of any of our students, not just those who have a head start.

Since we hear so much bad news about what’s going on in our schools, it’s important to recognize when things go right.  We applaud the gains in student achievement and the narrowing of the achievement gap witnessed in many local districts.  While No Child Left Behind is not perfect and needs to be improved, these gains could not have occurred without the new era of accountability ushered in by NCLB. 

However, the job is not done.  Many states have lowered their cut off scores on state tests – which vary greatly in rigor – so more students pass and the school can meet Adequate Yearly Progress requirements.

We’re making progress, but there is still more to do.

Please take a moment to read this important story.

Strong American Schools and the Education Equality Project Call for Education Questions in Presidential Debates

With Presidential and Vice Presidential debates coming up, I wanted to let you of the efforts Strong American Schools is making, in cooperation with the Education Equality Project, to have education as a priority in the debates.

Over the past year, we’ve talked a lot about some of the startling statistics in education – how dropout and remediation rates threaten students’ future success, while our ranking in the world compared with other nations is falling.  Here is a statistic just as shocking: of 653 questions asked at 30 Presidential debates, only 20 of those questions addressed the issue of education.  That’s a mere three percent. 

Meanwhile, voters continue to place education as a top priority.

That is why I, along with my Strong American Schools colleagues J.C. Watts and Marc Lampkin and New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Rev. Al Sharpton of the Education Equality Project have written to Tom Brokaw and Bob Schieffer, moderators of the two upcoming Presidential debates and Gwen Ifill, who will moderate Thursday’s Vice-Presidential debate. In our letter, we urge the moderators to engage the candidates in a meaningful discussion on what specific measures they will take to improve our schools.

Given all that has taken place in the news this past week, Rev. Sharpton put it best:

“We can't let the current financial and fiscal crises control the quality of education our children are receiving and lead to silence on the expanding achievement gap in education.  The disparity in education must be addressed at the presidential debates in order to make substantive changes and we have to stop allowing the topic of education to fall to the wayside limited to sound bites from the candidates."

I hope you will take a moment to read our letter – and to watch the upcoming debates.  The stakes are too high for us to sit on the sidelines.

Washington Aims to Improve Its Local Schools

National Public Radio recently reported on two school districts, Denver and Washington, D.C., who have taken innovative approaches to improving teacher quality.

Being from Colorado, I’ve talked about the Denver school system in the past, so I wanted to briefly discuss what’s happening in Washington on the local level. Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of schools for the District of Columbia is a tough advocate for improving our schools. She, and Mayor, Adrian Fenty, have inherited one of the most challenging school districts I’ve ever seen.

Specifically, as reported in the Washington Post, Rhee’s plan would place teachers on two tracks. The first track would remain the same – teachers can opt to maintain tenure and the traditional salary structure. The second track, which would be completely voluntary, would provide bonuses for those teachers who opted out of tenure. In other words, they would have a strong incentive to improve student performance.

This proposal would make teachers in Washington among the highest-paid educators in the nation – and help put Washington schools on par with its neighbors.

The inequality in the area is astounding. In the wealthy areas surrounding Washington – in places such as Fairfax County, Virginia or Montgomery County, Maryland, we have some of the nation’s finest schools. In Washington, however, schools have long sat in disrepair and suffered from neglect.

When Mayor Fenty hired Michelle Rhee, he sent a message that the status quo on education simply was not good enough. Since then they have put together a plan to recruit the best teachers possible and improve student performance through increasing the pay for our best teachers by providing bonuses for teachers whose students excel.

These incentives could hold the key to improving Washington’s much-maligned school system and provide an example for other struggling school systems. And if it can be done in Washington, a city known for entrenched special interests, it can be done anywhere.

ACHIEVE Report Calls for Rigorous Standards

Since there has been a lot of discussion lately about the high remediation rates our college freshman are facing - more than one-third of incoming college freshmen will enroll in at least one remedial course during college – the recent ACHIEVE report, Out of Many, One: Toward Rigorous Common Core Standards From the Ground Up, is a must read for anyone concerned about improving education.

The report, which comes from ACHIEVE working directly with multiple states on math and English education, makes three points clear:

1. Whether students are headed directly to work or to postsecondary education, employers and faculty agree that high school graduates need increasingly similar levels of rigor.

2. When states take the lead, and use college- and career-readiness as their goal, they will develop rigorous standards that prepare all students for success.

3. A critical mass of states has arrived at a common core of standards in English and mathematics as a byproduct of their deliberate, voluntary efforts to align their high school standards with the demands of college and careers.

We know that having a national curriculum, dictated from Washington, D.C., is not feasible.  But by states demonstrating real leadership and increasing their standards and expecting the best from our students, they not only improve the schools in their states, they also set an example for other states to follow.

As you know, too many of out students graduate from high school unprepared for college and unprepared for life.  In a recent Strong American Schools report, we refer to the increasing rates of remediation as giving many high school graduates, a Diploma to Nowhere. 

The beginning of the ACHIEVE report makes it clear, "All students should graduate from high school prepared for the demands of postsecondary education, meaningful careers and effective citizenship." 

Pro-Comp Comes to Denver

A significant development took place in my home state of Colorado recently, and I wanted to make sure you knew about it.

Earlier this month, the Denver Superintendent of Schools, Michael Bennett, and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association reached a new agreement for the Professional Compensation Plan for Teachers, or as it is commonly referred to, ProComp.  The plan would reward teachers for their professional accomplishments while linking pay to student achievement.

Education observers throughout the country have paid close attention to the ProComp negotiations.  Because it was created by both the school district and the teachers union, the compromise may serve as a model for the rest of the nation.

The proposed contract provides a 3 percent pay raise for all teachers and higher starting salaries.  It also provides a further increase to incentivize hard-to-fill subjects and hard-to-fill schools.

I’m encouraged by the results that came from the schools district and teachers working together.  As Union President Kim Ursetta said, "There were compromises on both sides."

We know that approximately by their fifth year, half of our teachers have left the profession and that more than one-third of math classes in U.S. middle and high schools are taught by someone who lacks even a college minor in a math-related field.

By providing more incentives, we can more effectively place qualified teachers in our classrooms.

I will be watching closely how this impacts Denver’s schools, but in the meantime, I am hopeful that other school districts will follow Denver’s lead.

GreatSchools Issues Report on Education

GreatSchools, a non-profit organization helping parents find the ideal school within their state, city, district or neighborhood, has released its Back-to-School Benchmark Survey.

The nationwide survey of K-12 parents gauges views on a wide range of topics, including back to school preparedness, politics and educational issues such as year-round schooling.

Americans care deeply about providing their children with a world-class education and they want to see the country’s leadership give more attention to this high priority issue, something the report makes clear.

I hope you’ll take a few moments to go over the survey.  I trust you’ll find the results thought provoking.

CNN’s Situation Room

I thought you would find the posting from CNN’s news program The Situation Room regarding our report on high school remediation, Diploma to Nowhere, of interest.

As you’ll see, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer calls the report both worrying and disturbing. Please take some time to read the report yourself.

Diploma to Nowhere

Today, Strong American Schools issued a new report entitled "Diploma to Nowhere" chronicling the enormous problem of remediation in our schools.

Far too many of incoming college freshman -- more than one-third nationally -- will enroll in at least one remedial course during college.  The number is even higher at community colleges, where much of our next generation of technology workers receive their training.  Forty-three percent of incoming community college freshmen will take at least one remedial course.

When I became superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, I was stunned at how high the remediation rates were in the state. Our students were given a false promise that the diploma they received was proof that they were qualified for college.  That just was not true.

The costs associated with remediation are high -- running to almost $2.9 billion for the 1,300,000+ students who enroll in remedial classes.

We owe our children the best education possible -- but we also owe them the truth in advertising that their diploma means what it says.

Please take a moment to read the report.  Like me, you will find it eye-opening.