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Obama Echoes Bush on Education Ideas
President Barack Obama campaigned on a message of change, but when it comes to K-12 education, he appears to be walking in the policy footsteps of his recent predecessors, including George W. Bush.
Mr. Obama is sounding themes of accountability based on standards and assessments. He’s delivering tough talk on teacher quality, including a call for performance-based pay. And he’s promoting an expanded charter school sector.
To be sure, his economic-stimulus package shows he is ready to pump far more money into education than Mr. Bush did. And Mr. Obama says he opposes private school vouchers, a consistent Bush agenda item.
Still, some observers see little difference between the two so far—and aren’t happy at the similarities.
“He is operating almost in a straight line from President Bush,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian at New York University, who co-writes a blog for edweek.org. She has criticized core elements of Mr. Obama’s K-12 agenda, such as his enthusiasm for the charter sector and what she worries is an overreliance on standardized testing to judge schools and teachers.
Sound Familiar?
The four most recent occupants of the White House have sounded similar themes on education.
"Accountability, flexibility, tougher standards, a results-oriented system—all of these have got to be out there on the table."
President George H.W. Bush
(Remarks at the education summit in Charlottesville, Va., Sept. 27, 1989)
"All successful schools have followed the same formula: higher standards, more accountability, so all children can reach those standards."
President Bill Clinton
(State of the Union Address, Jan. 27, 2000)
"We will insist on high standards and accountability because we believe that every schools should teach and every child can learn."
President George W. Bush
(Presidential radio address, Jan. 3, 2004)
"We're seeing what children from all walks of life can and will achieve when we set high standards, have high expectations, when we do a good job preparing them. ... [W]e will cultivate a new culture of accountability in schools."
President Barack Obama
(Address to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in Washington, March 10, 2009)
“Obama is, in effect, giving George W. Bush a third term in education,” said Ms. Ravitch, who served as an assistant secretary of education under the first President Bush.
Alfie Kohn, an education author and longtime critic of standardized testing, echoes that assessment.
“This is what passes for quote-unquote ‘reform’: an intensification of the status quo that reflects the sensibility of politicians and corporate executives rather than educators,” Mr. Kohn said.
He warns that if Mr. Obama holds to that pattern, his agenda may pose a challenge for some of his natural constituencies.
“A lot of liberals and those on the left desperately want to believe that Obama represents a qualitative change, not just in education, but in all kinds of domestic and foreign-policy issues,” Mr. Kohn said. “And even as many of them become slowly disenchanted, the political issue becomes: How hard do we push?”
But Andrew J. Rotherham, a co-director of the Washington-based think tank Education Sector, argues that the president is sending the right signals, from promoting charter schools to pushing on teacher quality and “improving accountability, not jettisoning it.”
He said that even while he believes Mr. Obama’s critics are wrong to suggest there is little difference between him and Mr. Bush on education, those hoping for a “radical departure” will be disappointed.
“There was a lot of overlap between Bush I and Clinton, and between Clinton and Bush II,” said Mr. Rotherham, a former aide to President Bill Clinton. “Not surprisingly, there’s going to be a lot of overlap between Bush II and Obama.
“That says less about any of them per se than the direction education reform has been going for well over a decade.”
Charting a Course
Analysts caution that it’s still too soon to know exactly where President Obama will come down on education. The key, they say, is how the Obama administration translates its rhetoric into action and detailed policy prescriptions.
For instance, how serious will the administration be in enforcing the education accountability demands in the recently enacted stimulus plan? How will it seek to define performance pay? And what specific changes does Mr. Obama have in mind for the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act?
Leading teachers’ union officials, at least publicly, sound receptive to most of the president’s ideas.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, said Mr. Obama has laid out a “very broad, comprehensive, and thoughtful agenda.”
The president is wading into touchy territory for the unions with his advocacy of expanding charter schools and promoting performance-based pay, themes he sounded on the campaign trail.
“I know that these conversations sometimes are uncomfortable for us to have, but we’re willing to have them,” Ms. Weingarten said when asked about Mr. Obama’s discussion of performance pay.
She and other union officials say that Mr. Obama’s election brought about a critical change that isn’t about policy or money. It’s a belief—reinforced by the president’s public statements—that teachers and their unions will have a seat at the table in policy discussions.
“He’s going to listen,” said Anne T. Wass, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, an affiliate of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association. “There wasn’t very much trust in President Bush as far as our issues, and very little access.”
‘The Same Old Debate’
The considerable attention President Obama has paid to education since taking office has surprised many observers, especially given the relatively minor role the issue played in the 2008 campaign and the focus on the economic crisis.
The president and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have made clear that they view the economic-stimulus law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—with some $115 billion in aid for precollegiate and higher education—as a means to launch education plans from improvements in standards and data-collection systems to performance pay. The unprecedented, one-time infusion of federal aid is being touted not only as a lifeline for schools but also a bargain of more money in exchange for substantive changes. ("Stimulus Scale Seen as Issue," Feb. 11, 2009, and "First Education Stimulus Aid Flows to States," April 8, 2009.)
Last month, Mr. Obama outlined his education agenda in broad strokes during an address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, setting the stage with a fairly stark portrait.
“[W]e’ve let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us,” he said.
Some critics say Mr. Obama was unfairly negative and used flawed information to make his case.
For instance, he said that U.S. 8th graders have “fallen to ninth place” in math. Although the 2007 results for the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMMS, do confirm that ranking, it was an improvement from the 2003 U.S. ranking of 15th place. In 1999, the United States ranked 19th out of 38 nations.
The president appeared to be on solid statistical ground in some other areas, however. He said that “just a third of our 13- and 14-year-olds can read as well as they should,” which seems to refer to the 31 percent of 8th graders rated “proficient” in the 2007 results for the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
He also lamented the “stubborn”—and widely recognized—achievement gap between African-American and Hispanic students and their white peers.
Mr. Obama has been generally consistent in his stated education agenda since taking office, reiterating much that he said during the campaign. That includes improvement proposals touching on every aspect of the U.S. education system, from early childhood to college and the workplace.
He has trumpeted his goals repeatedly, from his address to Congress in February to a virtual town-hall meeting on March 26. But he articulated his vision most extensively in his March 10 speech in the nation’s capital to Hispanic business leaders.
“[W]hat we get here in Washington is the same old debate ... more money versus more reform, vouchers versus the status quo,” Mr. Obama said. “What’s required is not simply new investments, but new reforms. It’s time to expect more from our students. It’s time to start rewarding good teachers, stop making excuses for bad ones. It’s time to demand results from government at every level.”
On the K-12 front, Mr. Obama called on states to develop stronger academic standards and better student assessments, and urged a move toward common standards across states—a point he did not make on the campaign trail. He talked of extending the school day and year, and increasing assistance for dropouts. He promoted efforts to recruit, prepare, and reward teachers.
In addition, Mr. Obama called for more innovation in schools, and pointed to some charter schools as exemplars. Going beyond his campaign plan to increase federal aid for charters, he also urged states with charter caps to lift them, provided those states ensure “greater accountability” and have plans to “close charters that are not working.”
The president carefully couched his rhetoric in ways that make it akin to a Rorschach test, with something for almost everyone.
He said he wants “tougher, clearer” standards, but also assessments that “don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble.” He wants more “effective” charters, but also tougher action to close those that fall short. He wants not only to hold teachers accountable, he said, but also to treat them like professionals.
Political Balancing Act
“Obama has been very artful with this from the very beginning,” Christopher T. Cross, a veteran education expert who was an assistant education secretary under the first President Bush, said of his ability to deliver multiple messages. “There’s enough in there that, depending on where you sit, you can see something you stand for.”
As a result, his education vision has managed to appeal to a wide range of education policymakers and analysts.
“He is saying a lot of things that sound all too familiar to me,” said former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, pointing to Mr. Obama’s backing of teacher incentive pay, charter schools, and high standards to help close achievement gaps. “I want to sing right along.”
John P. Bailey, a former aide to President George W. Bush on education and labor issues, said that while he has been encouraged, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear familiar themes coming from the new president.
“What it shows, to me, is there is an emerging consensus around some real bipartisan, center-oriented reforms,” Mr. Bailey said.
Indeed, leading congressional Democrats on education, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California, were partners with the Bush administration in drafting the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act eight years ago, though they later complained bitterly that Mr. Bush was not willing to fund it adequately.
President Clinton—the previous Democrat to hold the office—was also a champion of standards and accountability, and signed into law major changes to federal policy that helped pave the way for NCLB. In addition, he was an early and vocal proponent of charter schools, and pushed for new demands on states and districts to improve teacher quality.
For his part, President George H.W. Bush offered an agenda that included advocating national goals and standards across states and providing seed money for “break the mold” schools.
Still, the ideas Mr. Obama is embracing don’t sit well with everyone.
Alex Molnar, an education professor at Arizona State University, said that while he finds merit in some of Mr. Obama’s plans for early-childhood and higher education, he sees little to like in the current administration’s K-12 agenda, whether it’s the “fascination with standards and assessments” or the embrace of charter schools.
“He’s just served up a plate of leftovers: leftover ideas, leftover ideology, and I must say, he’s serving leftovers of food that wasn’t very good to begin with,” Mr. Molnar said.
Ms. Wass of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said that while she supports many of Mr. Obama’s plans, she is “less enthusiastic” about performance pay.
“If it means paying individual teachers based on student test scores, ... we would have a hard time ever compromising on that,” she said.
Secretary Duncan has said test data would be one component of performance-pay plans.
Bruce Reed, the president of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council and formerly President Clinton’s chief domestic-policy adviser, argues that the vast sums President Obama has secured for education through the stimulus package will help build the political leverage he needs with unions and others to achieve his agenda. The administration estimates that the stimulus money will help avert hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs. ("As Stimulus Tap Turns On, Districts Can't Escape Cuts," April 8, 2009.)
“Don’t underestimate the value of money, especially in these hard times,” Mr. Reed said. “A leader’s job is to push the envelope and bring everybody along, and that’s what Obama’s trying to do.”
But Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, isn’t so sure what the president will get for all the money being committed.
“What I see is lots of new money,” he said, “and I see a whole lot of ambiguity when it comes to which of these changes are actually going to be anything meaningful.”
Vol. 28, Issue 28, Pages 1,18-19
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Lawmakers, treasurer spar over property taxes $29.8B budget proposal causes debate in Assembly Wednesday, April 08, 2009 BY JOHN REITMEYER STATEHOUSE BUREAU With Gov. Jon Corzine's proposed state budget facing a possible $605 million shortfall and state workers across New Jersey protesting his plan to save money by furloughing them, lawmakers spent time yesterday debating this question: Are New Jersey residents taxed too much? Members of the Assembly Budget Committee -- all up for re-election this year -- took turns either praising or picking apart Corzine's $29.8 billion budget proposal. And state Treasurer David Rousseau, who appeared before the committee for the first time since Corzine's March 10 budget address, got caught up in the political arguments. Rousseau, in his introductory remarks, said the Corzine administration is bringing "property tax growth under control." When Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington) asked Rousseau if he thinks New Jersey residents are "overtaxed," the treasurer paused, said "no," and then said that while New Jersey property taxes are among the highest in the country, the state has relatively low income taxes on the middle class and provides quality schools and other services. "I think that anybody, everybody up there (on the committee), believes that they would like to pay lower taxes, but there's a choice between how we tax and what we provide," Rousseau said. "We also provide a lot more services than other states provide." Malone suggested there is a "disconnect" between the public and state government when it comes to taxes. Rousseau responded: "I don't think there's a disconnect. I think there's a frustration over the level of taxation in this state, but again, how do you deal with that? Do you cut services? The only way to cut taxes right now is to cut services either at the state level (or) the local level." Two Democratic committee members later came back to the same topic after Republicans criticized the treasurer's statements in a news release issued during the meeting. Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union), who is also chairman of the Democratic State Committee, asked Rousseau if he thinks property taxes "are fine." "No, and actually my statement says the rate of growth is under control," Rousseau said. Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) said it's a legislator's job to "feel the pain" of state taxpayers. "I just want to make sure that people not walk away thinking that you're cold or callous or anything else," Schaer said. "You do obviously feel the pain and we appreciate your sensitivity." The political discussions left little time for lawmakers to ask Rousseau about how he could cure a possible $605 million gap in revenues that was outlined Monday and again yesterday by David Rosen, budget and finance officer for the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services. If Rosen's analysis holds true, Corzine would have to either raise taxes or make more cuts to a budget that already reduces spending by $3 billion. One of those plans to reduce spending -- enacting a wage freeze and unpaid furloughs for state workers to save more than $400 million -- drew protests from the Communications Workers of America outside the Statehouse and at two dozen other sites across the state. "In our case, they reneged upon our contract we had agreed to," said David Weiner, president of CWA Local 1081 as several dozen union members picketed county offices in Newark. "They want us to give up the last two years of the contract. It's unfair. We're hard working men and women and we shouldn't have our wages and our salaries threatened because of conditions we didn't create." The CWA is one of several unions suing to stop the furloughs of state workers and other government employees. An appeals court panel is scheduled to hear the case on April 16. |
Press of Atlantic City -N.J. treasurer says residents not overtaxed
By DEREK HARPER Statehouse Bureau, 609-292-4935
(Published: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 )
TRENTON - Is New Jersey overtaxed? Depends on whom you ask.
In the second day of state budget testimony, Republican Budget Officer Joseph Malone, R-Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, closely questioned state Treasurer David Rousseau about the state's finances, arrived at taxes and asked, "In your observation, do you feel New Jerseyans are overtaxed?"
"No," Rousseau said, before pausing and adding, "I think there is a concern about the overall level of taxation in the state," but he said other factors including the number of governments and variation between states are in play.
Republicans quickly pounced, issuing a press release while Tuesday's session still was in session pointing out that the average property tax bill is in excess of $7,000 and saying that all 21 New Jersey counties are among the top 50 counties for percentage of income dedicated to taxes.
Tuesday's hearing recapped for the General Assembly's Budget Committee the grim testimony Rousseau and David J. Rosen, legislative budget and finance officer for the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services, gave to the Senate Budget Committee on Monday.
Rosen said few anticipated the "historic tax revenue collapse" that started last fall and likely will result in consecutive budgets being smaller than that of the previous year.
Six weeks after the governor introduced the budget, Rosen's office said state revenues in the current and next fiscal year would be about $606 million worse than expected.
Rousseau spent much of the hearing fending off Republican critics. At one point, he lamented that last year the state budgeted for a slowdown and had only that occurred, the state would not have had to make the recent cuts.
"If we had had that revenue, we would have had had $34 billion," Rousseau said. "But last July nobody would have imagined that the revenue would have fallen so much. That foundation really just got overwhelmed by the tidal wave but at least some of the foundation remained."
Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, R-Mercer, Monmouth, accused Gov. Jon S. Corzine of breaking the law by seeking to change so-called "poison pill" legislation - laws stipulating that if a program's designated level of funding is not matched, the tax that funds it cannot be collected - with the state budget.
This affects arts, history and culture funding as well as shore protection, but O'Scanlon took issue with changes to the Energy Tax Receipts Relief Fund, which provides municipal aid to towns that house utilities.
Rosen said it was an issue for the legislature to debate, but said it was not clear if there was a violation.
Rousseau said there are hundreds of earlier examples where the budget changed earlier state laws. With shore protection, proposed to be cut from $25 million to $18.75, he said enough was budgeted to meet the federal need. "Why should we appropriate $25 million when that (leftover) $6 million is just going to sit there?"
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Star Ledger - Newark school district plans school closures, job cuts, by Jeanette Rundquist
Looking to plug a $44 million shortfall in its nearly $1 billion proposed budget, the Newark school district will close two middle schools and eliminate more than 50 central office jobs.
The proposed 2009-10 budget approved Monday night by the district's advisory school board calls for the closure of the troubled William Brown Academy, as well as the Vailsburg School. No teachers will be laid off and 50 staffers will be reassigned to the classroom.
"The Newark Public Schools' 2009-2010 budget represents the district's commitment to continue on the path of fiscal accountability, education reform and transparency to ensure our business operations are effective and sustainable so that our students continue to achieve," Superintendent Clifford Janey said.
"In addition, the budget is designed to maintain school facilities and honor the obligations of the Newark Public Schools."
Students from the two middle schools will be shifted to other buildings, School Business Administrator Ronald Lee said.
Enrollment in the state's largest district has been slowly declining; the student population fell by about 500 this year to just under 40,000. Many of those who left Newark schools are now enrolled in charter schools which are independently run but funded by the district.
Because the district is under state control, Newark's $991.9 million school budget doesn't go before city voters. It must be approved by state officials, a process that could take a month or more, district spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said.
The district would save nearly $3.6 million by consolidating the Brown academy, and $1.6 million by closing Vailsburg, according to the proposed budget. The schools -- where test scores have been perennially low -- may be reorganized and reopened as new schools in 2010-11, according to a school district statement. The district has 80 schools.
There had been rampant rumors that as many as 11 schools would close, prompting the district to pen an open letter to the community denying the situation was that drastic.
"The fact of the matter is that the district is challenged with a $40 million budget shortfall, and is considering creative and sound ways to close that budget gap," the letter said in part.
The budget shortfall occurred because costs are increasing and revenues are dropping, Lee said. The district receives most of its funding -- $717 million -- from state aid, according to the district's budget presentation. However, this year's state aid was $4.2 million less than last year, Lee said.
The state is using a new funding formula which Lee said could mean an even greater shortfall -- $60 million -- for Newark's budget in 2010-11.
"It's a lot leaner than in prior years. A lot more difficult to balance," he said.
Under a reform ushered in last year, districts are funded based on enrollment, with a bonus for poor or otherwise "at-risk" students. Although Newark is impoverished, it and the state's 30 other poorest districts have received additional state aid by order of the state Supreme Court. The reform seeks to eliminate the court oversight, but the poor districts have mounted a pending legal challenge.
Plans to close Vailsburg School have been ongoing for three years, and only eighth graders attended the school this year, Merritt said.
Both it and Brown were struggling, failing to meet national standards under the No Child Left Behind act. Brown, which had failed to meet the standard six years running, was down to 280 students, roughly 35 percent of its capacity. A public meeting will be held Wednesday night at the school to discuss the closure.
Ahmad Ali, 14, an eighth grader at Brown, and Najee Moore, 12, who is in sixth grade, said they were upset by the proposal to close the school. Ahmad said he began circulating a petition, gathering signatures to support the school.
"Our school's been around for so long," he said of the 100-year-old school. The teen said he likes the music program -- he plays trombone in the band -- and the students and teachers.
"The teachers are very kind and teach very well," he said.
Joseph Del Grosso, president of the Newark Teachers Union, said he was pleased there would be no layoffs. But he expressed concern about a plan to reduce technology coordinators in the elementary schools by having smaller schools share a position. Some who held those positions would go back to the classroom.
"I don't understand the reason we would reduce technology positions at a time when technology seems to be what is moving the world forward," DelGrosso said.
Merritt noted all schools will still have a technology advisor.
