For nearly as long as I can remember, my school and those around me have been in some sort of crisis. Whether living on the south side of Milwaukee or in rural Appalachia, even in ritzy monochromatic enclaves like Ozaukee County, the education system always seems to be in some sort of crisis. Either the teachers are striking over increasingly paltry wages or commentators are moved to histrionics by dismal test scores and even worse graduation rates. Indeed, there are precious few moments when the education system, public or otherwise, distinctly triumphs over any obstacle.
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic, but living in close proximity to the Milwaukee Public School system tends to leave one with little hope for a renaissance in urban public instruction any time soon. Certainly the problems suffered in that district can’t be solved by the education system alone; not in one of the country’s most segregated cities, where one in three children are living in poverty.
In spite of the problems facing the people of Milwaukee and their public school system, operating Madison Public Schools has been anything but a cake walk. Budget cuts stemming from the economic crisis and a system of funding allocation that tends to discriminate against the Madison School District has dropped funding by nearly 3 percent, leaving the system reeling as it struggles to cut programs and staff. In the midst of this scholastic meltdown, one shred of hope lies in some $4 billion in federal stimulus money to be distributed to states that meet the Obama Administration’s “accountability” goals.
“Accountability” has been a buzzword in education reform for some time. Many of us remember former President George W. Bush using it to explain the only major domestic policy program of his tenure, “No Child Left Behind.” While deeply unpopular with most educators in the country at the time, it would appear the central theme of the program, using standardized tests to measure school performance, will remain in vogue for the foreseeable future.
“No Child Left Behind” was easily mistaken for a backdoor to widespread private education and the gradual deconstruction of the public education system. Since most conservatives view public education as an intolerable socialist abomination, I don’t think such suspicions were too heavy handed.
Although it is too early to tell what will become of Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top program, the initial outlook is promising. Standardized tests will still play an important role in evaluating students and their teachers, but under the new program data from test results will be but a contributing factor to a much broader assessment.
Educators have long opposed a strong reliance on test scores to judge the performance of faculty. Without a doubt, children coming from different socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds are going to perform differently on standardized tests, at least initially, and so penalizing a teacher for something out of his or her control is absurd. For the time being at least, educators in Wisconsin seem to have gotten the best of both worlds.
In the education package recently signed by Gov. Doyle, a “firewall” clause preventing test scores from being used in teacher evaluations was partially removed. The changes allow evaluations to be tied to test scores to fulfill federal funding requirements while preventing them from being used to actually discipline or dismiss a teacher. Given the delicate nature of these kind of negotiations and the crucial importance of having teachers’ unions on board for any reform effort, this was a smart compromise.
Contrary to “No Child Left Behind,” the importance of penalization has been greatly diminished in favor of focused improvements and high resolution data sets. No surprise here, as progressives traditionally prioritize nurture over discipline, generally with improved results. In any case, the new approach will incorporate data from other venues to evaluate student and teacher performance while loosening the confining effect of standardized tests through variation and de-emphasis. From observational surveys of teachers, to mandated state-wide databases documenting the educational history of students from pre-school onward, performance as well as context will inform funding decisions and efforts to improve the educational experience.
This kind of value-added analysis of the state’s public education system could go a long way toward giving us a better picture of what is going wrong and where. Unfortunately, funding is always going to be a problem.
If the state is fortunate enough to win “Race to the Top” funds they will only provide support for a few years. Without a sustained funding commitment it will be nearly impossible to make lasting changes to the system. In the future, a much greater level of support is needed from Wisconsin politicians and taxpayers to address the system’s current vulnerabilities. Until then, finding smart ways to use the money available and implement new strategies will be crucial.
Sam Stevenson ([email protected]) is a graduate student in public health.
