This is an article from the Center of online essay writing. A hat tip to friends in ed reform who sent it our way.

A number of the Obama administration’s most promising education initiatives have come under attack in recent weeks as members of Congress have searched for ways to offset $10 billion in funding to prevent teacher layoffs. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) offered an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill to make significant cuts to the Race to the Top, or RTT ($500 million), the Teacher Incentive Fund, or TIF ($200 million), and the Charter Schools Program ($100 million) in order to help fund teachers’ jobs. The amendment passed the House on July 1, and was a very unfortunate setback for education reform.

Members and others have called these programs a luxury when jobs are at stake, but this sentiment is wrong. Since the recession has tightened state and local education budgets it is even more important that dollars are spent wisely and leverage improvements in schools and classrooms. The three programs listed above are among the most promising federal education initiatives ever developed. It would be shortsighted to weaken them just when they’re beginning to yield dividends.

The education status quo clearly hasn’t worked for students in this country. Persistent achievement gaps in all subjects and stagnant reading scores and graduation rates all highlight the need for much more than a business-as-usual approach to education. Clearly no one has the silver bullet for how to improve schools, but doing more of the same and expecting different results makes little sense. RTT, TIF, and the Charter Schools Program are so promising precisely because they invest in innovation and experimentation, without which it isn’t possible to find better ways of educating students.

Helping all students achieve at high levels is just as critical during a recession as it is at any other time. In fact, if we don’t equip our future labor force to hold high-skilled jobs, long-term economic growth will be threatened. President Barack Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan’s education initiatives are a critical antidote to continuing ineffective policies and activities.

Here’s a more in-depth look at why these programs are so important and shouldn’t be cut.

Race to the Top

Race to the Top may have only been in existence for a short time. But it’s triggered the most dramatic state education reforms the country has seen in many years.

The Race to the Top program rewards states that commit to implementing significant education improvements in a number of key areas. At least 10 states changed their laws to make themselves more competitive for the competition’s first round before a single dollar was awarded, and 28 states in total reformed their education policies in 2009 and 2010 to prepare for the first two rounds of the competition.

A new law in Colorado, for example, ensures all teachers receive a meaningful evaluation, raises standards for teacher tenure, and ensures that ineffective teachers who don’t improve are not teaching students. And Connecticut recently passed a comprehensive education reform law that includes increases in high school graduation requirements, a requirement that districts create teacher evaluation systems that incorporate student academic growth, and a number of changes to state law to better address the needs of low-achieving schools.

Teacher Incentive Fund

The Teacher Incentive Fund supports competitive grants to states and school districts to implement pay-for-performance programs in high-needs schools. TIF funds may also support pay for teaching in subject shortage areas such as mathematics and science, and career ladders for teachers that offer them additional pay for increased responsibilities.

Critics argue that “merit pay” is a failed policy that has been around since the early 1900s. The truth is that past merit pay programs were destined to fail. They were based on subjective measures of teacher performance and weren’t part of a comprehensive plan to improve teachers’ instructional practice. The kinds of programs TIF now supports are generally comprehensive programs that include professional development, high-quality evaluation, and performance-based compensation. And the new guidance for TIF has an even greater focus on comprehensive approaches.

These kinds of programs are likely to attract and retain talented teachers as well as improve the instructional practice of teachers already in the classroom.

Charter Schools Program

The Charter Schools Program provides grants to states to support the planning and development of new charter schools. This funding is critical, because charter schools usually receive less public funding than traditional public schools. In fact, arecent study found that charter schools received 19.2 percent less funding per pupil on average.

Charter schools critics argue that they don’t produce outcomes that are any better than traditional public schools. This is true, on average, and charter schools should be held accountable for results like other public schools. But the existence of charter schools has spurred the development of some of the most promising school models for educating disadvantaged students. School models like KIPP, Yes Prep, and Achievement First have achieved unprecedented outcomes for students in poverty and have even outachieved schools with higher-income students. A recent study of KIPP middle schools conducted by Mathematica found that the schools had a positive impact on students’ math and reading achievement in all four years after students entered the schools.

These schools wouldn’t exist if states didn’t have charter laws on the books, and educators can’t develop or replicate schools like these without financial support.

 

Recent momentum for education reform has been unprecedented. It would be unwise and shortsighted to stall that momentum now. Congress should find offsets from ineffective programs to support the funding for teachers’ jobs.

Robin Chait is the Associate Director for Teacher Quality at American Progress.

Views: 110

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Less Prone on June 19, 2017 at 10:32pm

Teaching in the American schools has been sabotaged for a long time, the latest nail in the coffin is the common core standard to brainwash the students and to kill critical thinking and initiative.

Bella Dodd, School of Darkness

Charlotte Iserbyt, Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

Alex Newman, “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children,”

"'People feel they have no choice left but to engage in civil disobedience'

Parents are pulling their students out of Common Core testing procedures by the droves, and now someone has leaked test material onto the Internet. It’s just the beginning of the resistance to the federally orchestrated management of children, according to the author of a new book on education policy."

Isn't the principal task of the schools to educate and produce informed citizens who can think with their own brains seek information and keep learning, and not to promote government propaganda, manipulate and destroy initiative of the students? That at least in an ideal world, that does not exist.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

What Has Tulsi Gabbard Been Up to? Oh, Just catching Obama's ass ordering Intelligence Agencies to Commit Treason!

As we can always expect, the mainstream media will do anything they can to undermine the Trump…See More
9 hours ago
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post The Jewish Couple That Taught Bob Dylan Hebrew and Introduced Him to Zionism
"Haaretz put this story behind a pay wall. Sali Ariel and Terry Noble were the names of the couple…"
11 hours ago
William Heckman is now a member of 12160 Social Network
14 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
16 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thumbnail

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

"It's a sad day on the highway. But I guess the show must go on. Watch out for the ruination of…"
18 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a video

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future ForeverWelcome to Ride Radar – Your Frontline Source for Motorcycle Deals, Trends & Market Mayhem.Looking for t...
18 hours ago
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
Burbia posted a status
"Who knew releasing the MLK files and literally deflecting, it ends up implicating himself with the Epstein Files."
Tuesday
Burbia posted a video

Dan Bilzerian DEMOLISHES MAGA Nutjob Patrick Bet-David on His Own Show

Watch as two powerhouse personalities collide in this no-holds-barred debate on one of the world’s most contentious issues. Patrick Bet-David, known for his ...
Monday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's blog post Track AIPAC
Sunday
FREEDOMROX's blog post was featured

MRNA VACCINES: Question

Hello my fellow sojourners,I know it has been five years since the Plandemic, but one question has…See More
Sunday
Less Prone favorited FREEDOMROX's blog post MRNA VACCINES: Question
Sunday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Saturday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Saturday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Marjory Taylor Green Proposes Bill Abolishing Geoengineering or Weather Modification
"cheeki kea Marjory is in a daily battle with Democrats on the hill constantly coming up with more…"
Friday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jul 16
Mr. Sizzle favorited Less Prone's video
Jul 15

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted