Trending among governors: education reform

Governor Bobby Jindal signed his public education reform plan into law earlier this month and the media is abuzz about it. Some opinionated columnists have noted that there is still too much bureaucracy in education and that governors and presidents are not suited to running schools because they lack expertise in the field. Others have been inspired by Louisiana’s drastic and sweeping changes. In Michigan, for example, Governor Rick Snyder has just proposed transformational education reforms aimed at progressing the education system from days of farmers to one that prepares students for the digital age. The Governor believes that education is the long-term key to revitalizing the economy in Michigan.

Gov. Snyder’s plan includes a model called “Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace,” which allows for a wide variety of learning experiences for students including school choice, blended learning and online education. School districts will have more control over the length of the school day, week, and year and more flexibility in instruction and classroom configuration. The plan includes removing the cap on the number of charter schools in a district with at least one failing school, offering college credit opportunities to high school students, rating schools and reevaluating teachers.

Through studies, interviews, testing, and documentaries, it has become very clear that effective teaching is not always what happens in the average public school classroom. In fact, almost half of America’s K-12 teachers graduated in the bottom third of their college classes. While in model education system countries like Finland, requires teachers to have master’s degrees and only 10 percent of applicants are accepted to teacher training. Another point made by critics of the U.S. system is that teachers don’t have enough autonomy. P.L. Thomas, associate professor at Furman University, wrote in The Atlantic that “teachers and principals must feel free to act on their best instincts.” This sentiment is felt elsewhere as well. Marc Tucker, the president of the National Center on Education and the Economy says that the reason Finland strategies are working is because, “they have created a set of policies that are producing teacher they can trust, while we here in the U.S., we are basically pursuing a set of policies that are designed for teachers we don’t trust.”

Posted by: Devon Thorsell

Sources: Philadelphia Inquirer, The Atlantic, Michigan.gov

Photo credit: Governor Rick Snyder courtesy of flickr user Frankenmuth Fun

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal introduces education overhaul legislation:

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has an ambitious overhaul plan for primary and secondary education that will be introduced in the legislative session that begins on March 12^th. Jindal’s agenda is targeted at four major pieces of legislation: teacher tenure, charter schools, vouchers, and early childhood education.

Jindal’s plan for teacher tenure includes extending high performance evaluations to five years before tenure. Teachers would be evaluated as highly effective, effective, or ineffective. Highly effective ratings for five years merit tenure, while teachers who already have tenure are required to meet “effective” status to keep it. Ineffective teachers would be subject to dismissal, regardless of previous ratings. Jindal also wants to shift some of the power from the school boards to the superintendents and principals especially in regards to employment decisions.

Jindal also plans to expand charter schools and wants to allow parents in an “F”-ranked public school to vote to convert the school into a charter school.  The governor also would like to see public universities and nonprofits the ability to approve new charter schools.

In regards to vouchers, Jindal wants to re-allocate the state’s per-pupil spending to low-income students in poorly performing schools to pay private school tuition. Jindal’s spokesman said “we believe the money – all of it – should follow the student.” And in early childhood education, Jindal would mandate that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) would have the responsibility to oversee all state and federally funded early childhood education programs and would develop a goal setting program to ready children for kindergarten.

Nationally, Jindal is doing well among conservatives and has been in running among pundits to be groomed for the next generation of GOP candidates. “If Republicans in Washington are not panicked and trying desperately to pull Bobby Jindal in the race tomorrow, or someone like him, the party leaders must have a death wish,” Erick Erickson, a blogger from Redstate.com wrote. The Wall Street Journal said if Jindal gets his way, he could make Louisiana “the first (state) to effectively dismantle a public education monopoly.”

The State Senate Education Chairman Conrad Appel and Rep. Steve Carter will be carrying the bills while competing bills have been introduced by Senator Ben Nevers, Rep. Pat Smith, and Rep. Roy Burrell.

 

Posted by: Devon Thorsell

Sources: Times-Picayune NOLA, American Press, The Wall Street Journal

Photo Credit: Bobby Jindal, The Governor of Louisiana by flickr user Marc V. Genre