Salt of the Earth: Will Bush's education plan make the grade

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February 2001

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Will Bush's education plan make the grade?

Will Bush's education plan make the grade?
Leave no child behind: That Children's Defense Fund slogan is now the goal of President Bush's new education plan and the objective of most schools in the country. Unfortunately, no one agrees how to reach that goal or whether the Bush proposal is the step in the right direction.

The president's education package focuses on four major provisions: establishing national testing in grades 3 through 8, localizing control of schools, providing federal help for school districts, and allowing parents to use federal money to enroll their children in private schools if their public schools are failing.

Each of the four points has sparked controversy.

Barbara Radner, director of the Center for Urban Education at Chicago's DePaul University, calls the plan "simplistic." She thinks the proposal places too much emphasis on nationwide testing. "There seems to be a focus on the test instead of considering it as an ingredient [in a comprehensive education]," she explains. "We need to look past the test—look at it, but also past it." Radner argues school evaluators should consider test scores only if they also examine measures like student attendance and class offerings.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokesperson for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, is cautiously optimistic about the testing provisions. "The bishops agree with the concept of having higher standards and accountability, but we've seen no details so far," she says.

The president has not yet offered clear guidelines for how the testing would take place, or which tests should be used.

Walsh says she definitely supports more independence for individual schools, however. "The success of Catholic schools has occurred in part because school control is localized," she says. "A parent can get in touch with a principal."

Radner says local control will only prove effective if schools and teachers grasp the national evaluation standards. "Local control will work to the extent that people understand what's behind this test score," she says. She adds that other evaluation measures are necessary for individual schools to compare themselves nationally.

Both Radner and Walsh think federal aid will be key in the success of any education plan. "We need more money; more money has to be invested," Radner says.

During the campaign Bush proposed an education spending increase of $47 billion over 10 years. His new proposal does not include exact figures, however House Democrats introduced a rival plan offering $110 billion over five years.

The two plans also differ on where a spending increase should go. Bush's proposal would allow children at substandard public schools to obtain federal money for private schools; the Democrats' plan does not include vouchers.

Radner, who works with the Chicago public schools, thinks vouchers will only damage public schools. "Vouchers signal 'We don't believe in you,'" she says. "They'll raise anxiety, but not productivity. They're a slap in the face."

Walsh disagrees. "If schools are failing, parents must have options for their children," she says. —Anne Graber

More info:
National Catholic Education Association
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Education Department
U.S. Department of Education
Yahoo's education curriculum and policy links

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