The shape of the debate – possibly

The pause in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provides a critical point for Congress to reconsider the state-federal relationship. It is not clear what will come of this reconsideration period, but there is a lot of talk of a “loose-tight” set-up, which is to say that the federal government will be tight about the results (rigorous standards, assessments and the like) but loose about the means of accomplishing that task. The federal government would tell us what to do, generally, but not how to do it.

Data is, of course, critical to such a set up. It is the linchpin of good systemic reform. Without it, is hard to tell who is doing what, officials have to trust the sources and hope for the best. With reliable data (reliability being key), school leaders can monitor programs, analyze results and act on the information to improve programs.

The twin themes of freedom and data should sound familiar to those in education and policy. It sounds a lot like a charter contracts, just at a national level and with federal dollars (Title I specifically). So if the federal role were to move to such a model would it work? We’ll it is far beyond this post to get into that, but, like most answers, it would be “yes” and “no.” Some states would succeed and some would not and adjustments would be made and the debate would go on.

 

Friedman’s “Hope in the Unseen”

Thomas Friedman has a powerful article on the lottery for the SEED school in Baltimore Maryland. See Hope in the Unseen. The article recited much of the hope and anxiety previously reported about school lotteries – how futures rely on fate and how damn unfair it all can be. While compelling, the article was not new (at least to me). What was new, I thought, was how Friedman addressed the critical topic of hope for those urban residents with little to no education or hope for tomorrow. They are not blind to their predicament.

If you think that parents from the worst inner-city neighborhoods don’t aspire for something better for their kids, a lottery like this will dispel that illusion real fast.

This point is critical to education reform and this point should be explored in greater depth by the public and private sectors. But let’s not sit on our hands. This work needs to have begun yesterday and it is ridiculous that we are only beginning to recognize the urgency.

There are so many good reasons to finish our nation-building in Iraq and resume our nation-building in America, but none more than this: There’s something wrong when so much of an American child’s future is riding on the bounce of a ping-pong ball.