We need an ESEA and a congress that works
I share Tom Friedman’s frustration about the state of American politics. Â Today he bemoans the fact that presidents have about 100 days to try to get things done, otherwise it’s partisan politics and campaign mode:
There is no way that America can remain a great country if the opportunities for meaningful reform are reduced to either market- or and climate-induced crises and 100 working days every four years. We need a full-time government, and instead we’ve created a Congress that is a full-time fund-raising enterprise that occasionally legislates and a White House that, save for 100 days, has to be in perpetual campaign mode.
Friedman continues, “We need to do four things at once: spend, cut, tax and invest. And unless we do all four at once we’re not going to break out of our slow decline. But to do all four at once will require a new hybrid politics, which does not conform to the political agenda of either major party.”
Congress can’t even take on one tough problem at a time. Â Take reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as an example. Â In a burst of bipartisanship in 2oo1, a bill was passed signaling a significant increase in the federal role in public education–No Child Left Behind. Â Because few states were adequately addressing the challenge of under performing students and schools, the feds engineered a system of testing and accountability based on what were deemed to be best practices of the late 90s.
Shortly after passing the bill some problems became obvious. Â The focus on age cohorts meeting grade level standards ignored academic growth contributed by some schools. Â The focus on teaching credentials reinforces inputs rather than instructional effectiveness. The order and nature of school interventions were quickly called into question. Â If the bill had been adjusted and recalibrated a few times in the last decade, the country may actually have a working base line school accountability system.
But it’s 2012 and ESEA is broken and discredited. Â Given two more years of congressional inaction, the secretary is left with the need to grant waivers to a law that will soon leave 80% of American schools ‘in need of improvement.’
Worse than a package of waivers would be a piecemeal and odd-bedfellows approach in support of local control–a full abandonment of the NCLB ideals that the feds had some responsibility to promote equity.
Obama had a remarkable first 100 days. Â Race to the Top was an ingenious addition to the stimulus plan. Â But, as Friedman argues, we need more than a 100 day burst. Â Â We need a congress that works, that can take on tough issues like the economy, entitlements, global warming, and education.
For more:
- Denny Way commentary on how NCLB testing requirements need to be updated for personal digital learning
- NYTimes reports that Kline has a reauthorization plan and will attempt to prevent a wave of waivers

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