The National Journal recently put out the call to education experts around the country, “What should the education priorities be for 2010?”  There are lots of interesting ideas here, the reauthorization of ESEA, new school models, refining standards and assessment, keeping up reforms, etc.  While Delaware’s focus may already be on another tight budget year, there are also opportunities to make education in the First State better in 2010 then ever before.  With the legislative session opening in Dover today, what are the big education policies you would like to see tackled this year?

On our list:  Finding a solution to fix low performing schools, moving towards an educator career path that rewards effectiveness, and funding flexibility for schools and districts to make the right decisions for kids.

This morning, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress, and Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, issued Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation. It examines what states are doing to prepare themselves for the challenges that lie ahead, based on the premise that “innovative educational practices are vital to laying the groundwork for continuous and transformational change.”

Access it here: http://www.uschamber.com/09reportcard/. There’s a video of the release here, and Secretary Duncan’s remarks are here.

Delaware got:

• two Bs (staff hiring and evaluation, data)
• two Cs (School management and finance)
• three Ds (removing ineffective teachers, pipeline to postsecondary, and technology) 

Are our mediocre grades fair?

The Sunday News Journal had four op-ed pieces that key into the education work going on here in Delaware and around the nation.  There was a piece by The News Journal laying out the four key reform areas Secretary Duncan and President Obama are pushing through Race to the Top, a piece about the need for more flexibility in our schools to help teachers be successful, a piece connecting the needs of higher education to the public school system, and finally a call to create the political will necessary to ensure all schools can be successful for all kids.

Look for more in the coming days as we get closer to “Vision 2015 and Delaware’s Race to the Top” at UD on October 27^th.

In a recent letter, the National Education Association (NEA) expressed concerns about major components of President Obama’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) grant competition. The union thinks the size of the program will inhibit effectiveness, opposes basing teacher evaluations in part on student performance, opposes expanding alternative teacher certification programs and dislikes RTTT’s emphasis on charter schools.

While we understand their concerns about implementing such a large scale proposal, we believe the Obama administration is correct to use these funds to encourage innovation. RTTT is, after all, optional, and for the most part states get to choose what they want to try and how.  Our education system needs reforms that work and the administration is using RTTT to reward states for replacing practices that have not worked with ones that can better prepare students for college and the workforce.

We share concerns about fair teacher evaluations, yet excluding student achievement entirely is unacceptable. Schools drastically need fair evaluations — that monitor teacher performance over several years and emphasize growth — so teachers won’t get punished for having one difficult class, or teaching in a difficult environment.  But at the same time, we need a system that ensures the most effective teachers are in every classroom, and right now we do not have an evaluation system that can do that.

On charter expansion, the Obama administration wants to reward good schools – traditional public schools and charters alike — and see underperforming schools shut down. In some states high-performing charter systems cannot expand because of caps and lack of facilities financing. Secretary Duncan is right to encourage states to expand successful schools and hold others accountable.  We need to make sure that all families have access to high quality district and charter schools for their children.

Finally, alternative teacher certification programs like Teach For America, which places top college graduates in our nations high needs schools, and programs that train mid-career professionals to bring their experience into classrooms should be rewarded. Any significant change in our schools will be built by great teachers and principals, and we need to find better ways to recruit, train, and retain more of these educators.