If I could change just one thing…
Last night, I was watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his guest, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Spellings, who is not particularly popular with the National School Board Association (she was nearly booed off the stage by members at their January meeting in Washington), wasn’t doing much to impress me last night either. Her remarks focused on denigrating the quality of all public schools in the United States; and yes, I admit, I wasn’t comfortable with the national statistics she was spewing—half of minority students are not graduating in four years. This statistic, alone, is horrific when you consider today most people need some college or post high-school training to make a livable wage. Of course, Spelling was full of praises for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the federal brainchild of her boss, although she did admit it could do with some tweaking, especially around being “more precise about measurement” and “growth models.” But I was still sitting uneasy with the unhappy reality of those stats when Jon, ever the comedian, attempted to add levity by asking Madame Secretary what she would do if she were the Education God and could change one thing. I stopped breathing as she paused and considered the question. Like a nanosecond slide show, my mind went through a series of potential answers before settling on what I felt was the one best change to truly impact educating our youth, and then the U.S. Secretary of Education spoke: “low expectations,” she said, “especially for minority students.” That’s it? That’s what she’d change? If she thinks simply expecting more is going to close the achievement gap, she needs to return to Earth. (I’m not saying low expectations aren’t an issue—particularly in urban districts where children may be ill prepared to learn.) But how about changing the socio-economic conditions of our children so that every child has a home, adult guidance, food, and healthcare? What kind of impact would it have on a child’s ability to do well in school if her parents weren’t working two jobs and still struggling to pay the rent? At the risk of sounding disrespectful, I need to say: It’s poverty stupid. End poverty and you will see better results in student learning. Well, anyway, that’s what I would do—if I were the Education God and could change one thing.