American education system needs reform //Frame from the cartoon "South Park"
The Kent School District covers the city of Kent, the cities of Covington and Maple Valley, and adjacent populated areas. On August 31, 1,700 teachers gave 26,000 students extra vacation time and did not go to work. The reason is overcrowded classes. Teachers complain that working with a class of 45 people makes it impossible to give each student proper attention. The union, the Washington Education Association, is confident that the district administration can improve the situation – even if only by redistributing students from overcrowded classes to less crowded ones.
Negotiations continue in the state, but so far have yielded no results: on September 1, the district administration asked the court to declare the teachers' strike illegal. Nevertheless, this local crisis may be resolved in the coming days, but school education in the United States urgently needs more global changes. Every administration makes efforts in this field, and of course the administration of Barack Obama, which came to power under the slogan of change, is no exception. This responsible task has been assigned to Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, a trusted advisor to Obama and his basketball partner.
Charter schools and teacher salaries
In total, the economic stimulus plan developed by the Obama administration allocates $100 billion for education needs. The key initiative concerning schools is "Race to the Top." It is called a "race" because states and school districts, competing for the program's budget of over $4 billion, will have to compete: whoever develops the school system better, introduces valuable innovations, and improves performance gets the money. On the path to success, Duncan, the main organizer of the race, has set several milestones.
First, states are expected to develop "charter schools." These are special secondary education institutions that appeared in the United States in the 1990s; they receive government funding but develop independently. However, receiving public funds usually imposes significant restrictions on the school's development. But several states, having joined the federal competition, have already lifted these restrictions, including Illinois, where Obama's political career began and where Duncan led the largest school district – Chicago.
Second, to receive funds, states will have to link teacher salaries to student performance. In addition, Duncan is the ideologist behind the development of common education standards, which is being pursued by 47 states (the dissidents are South Carolina, Alaska, and Texas) and the District of Columbia. The minister laments that in some states the current standards are so low that "a child who meets them can barely graduate from high school and is completely unprepared for college."
Professionals' opinion
The plans of Obama and Duncan evoke mixed reactions. For example, teachers' unions – traditionally supporters of Democrats – actively criticize "Race to the Top." "By doing this through administrative rather than legislative means, Arnie, I'm afraid, will get short-term results, but there will be no long-term education reform," lamented Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which unites urban school teachers.
Dissatisfaction is also expressed by the National Education Association (NEA) – the country's largest teachers' union. "We are concerned about the 'top-down' approach," the organization's statement says. "We have already been through this when the 'No Child Left Behind' program was implemented, which ended in failure." "No Child Left Behind" is a school initiative of George W. Bush, the main component of which was annual testing of schools for compliance with standards. According to critics, the initiative was implemented by the federal government too "despotically," and the Obama administration promised to be more flexible and give states greater independence.
Dissatisfaction is caused not only by the mechanism of reform implementation, but also by its key principles. For example, linking salaries to test results. Teachers are convinced that because of this they will have to actually engage not in educating students, but in targeted "coaching" for certification: there is already an opinion that American school tests essentially test the ability to prepare for them, not the level of knowledge. The justification of the hopes that Duncan places on charter schools is also in doubt. "Although new evidence to the contrary is emerging, the administration seems to have chosen charter schools as a panacea for all the ills of America's public schools – urban, suburban, rural, or village," the NEA believes, "and everyone will have to follow this universal solution."
The Obama effect
There are currently about 4,600 charter schools in the United States, and their success varies widely. According to researchers from Stanford, in 17% of cases, especially in low-income areas, the quality of education in charters is significantly higher than in regular schools. At the same time, a third of charter schools are inferior to public schools. Responding to critics, Duncan promises to implement school plans wisely: unsuccessful charter schools will be closed, while the experience of successful ones will be replicated. The minister also asks not to be afraid of "piecework" payment for teaching work: according to him, the mechanism for linking salaries to grades will be developed "with teachers, not for teachers."
The general public is not particularly enthusiastic about charter schools, but they are not too outraged either. According to a poll conducted by specialists from Harvard, 17% of Americans are in favor of 'charters', 39% oppose them, and the remaining 44% are undecided. When respondents were told that Obama was in favor of charter schools, the picture changed noticeably: the share of supporters of these controversial institutions increased to 28%. A similar 'Obama effect', affecting people of different races, professions, and parties, was observed in discussions of other educational reform issues.
Obviously, America still retains much of the enthusiasm generated by the change of occupant of the White House, and the government's planned 'race to schools' enjoys a serious degree of trust.
Vasily CHEPELEVSKY.
Lenta.ru