Reality Based Educational Policy

Ever wonder why educational policy at the state and federal levels seems so out of touch with the reality of the school or classroom? Maybe it's because the people who write it have so little connection or experience with actually doing the job. A recent book by Elizabeth DeBray recounts the path the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation took. It is a real eye opener for those of us who don't spend time inside the beltway. The bottom line is that NCLB was driven by ideology and power politics, not experience with teaching and learning.

That is not to say, however, that everyone who supported (or still supports) NCLB was solely driven by crass motives. Genuine concern over the historical gaps between rich and poor, minority and majority, urban, suburban and rural children when it comes to educational achievement and resources motivated many to support NCLB. But as is often the case, the devil is in the details. The not-so-fine print of NCLB and the regulations around it from the Department of Education have turned a potentially good idea into a bureaucratic and test-driven nightmare.

One wonders what would have happened if anyone had asked educators what needed to be done to improve our schools? Would we have started with the acknowledgement that for many children and families our schools are not failing, but are, in fact, one of the best public or private services they receive? Would we have taken the lessons of school reformers' hard work over the last three decades and funded small, personalized schools that engage and challenge every student? Would we have tempered the seemingly single-minded reliance on standardized tests with the high quality performance assessments in use all over the nation? (To learn about the New York Performance Standards Consortium's work, click here.) Unfortunately, we'll never know. But we can learn from our mistakes.

The Forum, along with several of our partner organizations, has begun a project to rectify the lack of the voice of educators in crafting educational policy. Our "Every Child a Promising Future" campaign is designed to hear from educators nationwide about what public policy at both the state and federal level should address to make sure that all our children are guaranteed the following:

• Engaging and challenging education experiences that equip them for democratic citizenship;
• Equitable educational resources including skilled teachers;
• Secure childhoods free from want or fear;
• Caring communties that have a genuine say over local school policies;
• Educational resources beyond the schoolhouse including libraries and educational media.

Our intent is to build upon what has already been done and using what works in schools and communities around the country to inform policy and policy makers.

We launched our National Call for ideas and contributions to this campaign in May at a town meeting hosted by National-Louis University. Attended by over 300 educators, parents, and students, the session generated dozens of models and ideas for a national platform on school redesign. If you would like to read the opening remarks that Deborah Meier made to the group, click here. For my remarks, click here. To see photos or watch a web-cast of the event, go to the National-Louis website.

This is just the start of this work. Many of you have taken part in our virtual town meetings by sending in your own ideas and we encourage you to continue to do so by clicking here and telling us about good work going on in your community or school. We have also scheduled additional town meetings in Connecticut on October 25th, in Los Angeles next February, and at the Coalition of Essential Schools national convention in November. Watch the Forum website for details on these and other meetings.

The Forum's goal is to create and educate for public policies that embrace the most noble and cherished goal of our commitment to public education, that of nurturing in our children the habits of heart and mind that make democratic life possible. We know this work is already going on and it is past time we had a policy environment that embraces rather than hinders this agenda. Given the recent Zogby poll that shows educators and teachers to still be seen as the most trustworthy of all professional groups in America (accompanied by by low marks for elected officials and business leaders), it is clearly time we lead on educational policy. We invite you to join us in creating the next set of national goals for our schools -- this time grounded in reality and nurtured in hope.