by AFT President Sandra Feldman
January 2001

Voters agreed that
no child should
be "left behind."

In a little over a month's time, the presidential race has finally been decided, a new Congress has been sworn in, and President-elect Bush has named his cabinet, including Rod Paige, his nominee for Secretary of Education. And as we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday and prepare to inaugurate a new president, it seems a good time to reflect on the basic value Americans put on education.

During his campaign, President-elect Bush, adopting a motto long used by the Children's Defense Fund, promised to "leave no child behind." Rod Paige made the same commitment when his nomination was announced.

Most Americans share that value. This past November, state after state passed ballot initiatives that increased support for public education. In fact, in this country we believe so strongly in the necessity of education that taxpayers--parents and nonparents alike--pay to provide it for all children. And our laws require that all children attend school. That's because we recognize that education is not just something desirable for our own children. Unless all children are educated--the children who live on the other side of town as well as the kids next door--our communities, our economy, and our democracy will not flourish, or even survive.

There are now fifty million American children enrolled in K-12 classes, forty-five million--fully ninety percent--in public schools. Most of these children are in good schools--though even good schools can do better. But all too often, the children of poor families are subjected to what President-elect Bush has called "the soft bigotry of low expectations." He was talking about academic standards, but low expectations can manifest themselves in other aspects of education, like accepting the fact that poor children disproportionately bear the brunt of shortages of well-qualified teachers or attend crumbling schools.

We Have a Choice

As a society, we have a choice to make: We can give up on public education; we can give in to the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and continue to leave needy children behind; or we can commit ourselves to making sure that all children in our public schools receive the education that the world's greatest, wealthiest, and most powerful nation owes to each of them.

To do the latter, we must first believe that all children can achieve; and we have to set high standards for them, for their teachers, and for their schools. But standards alone are not enough: Schools and the students and teachers who work in them also need the tools and conditions to meet those standards. Presumably, this is something on which most of us agree.

But let us also agree that children do not all learn at the same pace, that some come to school better prepared than others, and that the extra help a child might require should be available regardless of a family's ability to provide it.

Qualified teachers, a rich curriculum and up-to-date materials, decent buildings--these are all within reach in other advanced nations--so why not here? Throughout the country, urban districts like Houston are making great progress. Imagine how much more they could do for their students if they had more to give, and more access to what works.

A Moral Responsibility

Some people believe that free market forces can make these things happen. But markets create losers as well as winners. In education that would mean accepting that some children will lose out--and that brings us back to the soft bigotry of low expectations. A society advanced enough to assume the responsibility of compelling education must also assume the moral responsibility of ensuring that all students get an excellent education. And that is a role for the federal government. The November elections suggest that Americans are divided on many issues. But not on whether to support public schools and not on the quality of education we owe our children.

From my office window I can see the beautiful dome of the U.S. Capitol. It's a long way from the slums of Coney Island where I grew up. So I know the power of a good public education.

The elected officials who work in that stately building have it in their power to ensure that no child is left behind. Let's hope that in this new year, and in the spirit of Dr. King, they resolve to do no less.