by AFT President Sandra Feldman
February 1999

The President's education
plan deserves both
parties' support.


Given the continued partisan sniping that we've been seeing in Congress over the past weeks and months, it's important to remember that Americans do agree about certain things, no matter what their political party -- and education is one of them. Members of the public are nearly unanimous in their support for high academic standards and teacher quality and in their belief that schools should be held accountable for the job they are doing. In his State of the Union address, President Clinton recognized these concerns and offered a program that ought to command bipartisan Congressional support.

As the President noted, states are making progress in setting higher academic standards and tying those standards to high-school exit exams or other tests. Nationally, test scores and graduation rates are rising, but serious work remains to be done. The President's program will provide states and local school districts with some excellent tools -- and it will hold them accountable for getting results.

The President called for all schools to end social promotion, the practice of passing youngsters from grade to grade regardless of whether they have learned the material of the grade. Simply holding kids back is not the answer, and the president recognized that. Kids need early, timely, and appropriate help to keep them from falling behind. The President's proposal would enable schools to give students who are in danger of failing the extra help they need. Whether this help comes in the form of after-school programs or Saturday or summer schools, as is being tried in Chicago, would be up to the schools themselves.

This was just one proposal in a package full of commonsense programs. The President also called on states and districts to:

-- Intervene and redesign failing schools. The program would provide $200 million to school districts that identify schools whose students consistently fail to meet accepted standards. When it is done right, this process can transform a failing school into one where students are expected to succeed -- and do. The Cleveland Teachers Union is working right now with the local school district to set up a process to identify and intervene in low-performing schools. The AFT has been a partner in the process in places such as New York City and Corpus Christi, Texas. With proven programs and effective partnerships, we can help make every school one where we would be happy to send our own child.

-- Make sure that every class has a qualified teacher. Testing new teachers to make sure they know their subject matter and their field is one way of making sure that all teachers are well qualified. That is what the President suggests, along with bringing an end to emergency certification and out-of-field teaching. Beginning and struggling teachers will benefit from effective peer assistance and peer review programs, such as those underway in Toledo and Cincinnati; New York City and Rochester; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; and other cities around the country. And all teachers will benefit from programs that provide greater access to the latest research on effective classroom practices.

-- Adopt and implement sensible discipline policies. If we want students to learn, schools must be orderly places. Teachers have always known that other efforts to improve learning will not be effective if schools tolerate disorderly conduct and disrespectful behavior. President Clinton's proposal to require states and school districts to adopt discipline policies will help ensure that all students are able to learn in an orderly and safe environment.

-- Let parents know how well their child's school is doing. The President proposed periodic "report cards" on every school, so parents will know where their local school needs to improve and make changes and can participate in making the changes work.

The President's program puts the responsibility for improving public education where it belongs - on states and local school districts - and it offers help and encouragement in meeting that responsibility. Critics charging that the President's plan would create a "national school board" have begun to substitute campaign rhetoric for reason, and that's too bad. This isn't a partisan proposal; governors of both parties are already implementing many of these reforms.

Americans are tired of partisan battles, and they want our political leaders to start doing the people's work again. The President's education initiative seeks to provide all of our children with safe classrooms and qualified teachers. It encourages high standards for all our students and schools. And it's an approach we should all support.