We’re Number One?!

Post #40

President Obama just released “A Blueprint for Reform,” which outlines his ideas for modifying “No Child Left Behind.”  His Administration is clearly placing a greater emphasis on states competing for federal funds rather that the traditional distribution through formula-based grants.  Will Maryland and Montgomery County be successful in their pursuits for much-needed additional school funding?

For the past two years, Maryland’s schools have been ranked #1 in the nation by Education Week in its annual "Quality Counts" survey.  Clearly, this is something we should brag about; use to recruit good employers with well-paying jobs; and commend our teachers and administrators.

But does this mean we’re doing as well as we’d like?  As I have knocked on doors and talked to community leaders over the past nine months, I have heard more complaints than cheers from parents and teachers about our local schools.  I hear about class sizes that are too large for maximal learning.  I hear about infrastructure that is long overdue for updating or replacing.  I hear frustration about inadequate staffing to effectively teach students with learning disabilities or for whom English is not their primary language.

Respected education policy leader Diane Ravitch just released a new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, to great acclaim.  Among her theses is that “No Child Left Behind” is a distraction and a misdirection of resources.  There is too much teaching to the test, too much pressure on school systems to show progress, and unfair and punitive penalties for failure to meet goals.  This has led to small and large instances of fraud (by both teachers and entire school systems), which obviously don’t help us measure the levels of improvement.  Once seen by some as a panacea, charter schools aren't turning out to be the laboratories for innovation that many had predicted.

Maryland’s grade was an 87.5%, based on the six categories of measurement, which include student performance on tests and educational policies.  That means we are doing a lot right, but there is definitely room for improvement.  The fact that the State has taken over schools in Baltimore City (and has threatened to take over others) is evidence that many children around the state are not receiving an adequate education.  Funding is always an issue, but so is support (training, mentoring, and compensation) for our teachers and administrators.  We need safe, wired, clean schools to maximize learning opportunities.  And we need to involve parents and community volunteers in tutoring and reinforcing the lessons learned in the classroom.

Together, we can work to offer Maryland children the best possible education… and hopefully continue to do it better than the other 49 states!

I would love to hear from you, dear Blog reader!  Do you agree that Maryland does a B+ job in our public schools?  How good a job does your local school do?  What could make the biggest difference in your community?  How do you think I can and should help?  Please send an email to Blog@CherylKagan.org or click on the "Comments" link below to express your views.  Please be sure to indicate which post (#40) you're addressing.

Thanks for reading.  I will post again soon.