by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 3, 2001
All Rights Reserved.

ashing public education, throwing good money after bad, and insisting on national standards won’t fix the current mess. Bringing more bad news, the National Assessment of Educational Progress—also known as the nation’s report card—released disappointing results of its 2000 exam, indicating that only 34% of white fourth-graders demonstrated minimal math proficiency. Even more abysmal, only 5% of black and 10% of Latino fourth graders met minimum math proficiency standards, leading to the latest round of public education bashing. California fell well below the national average with only 15% of fourth-graders and 18% of eighth-graders meeting the standard, ranking the golden state a disgraceful 43rd place. “Those students with the greatest need should receive greater resources and technical assistance and where that happens you see progress being made,” decried U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige at a White House meeting, brainstorming about national educational reform. But wiring more computers to the Internet won’t improve basic math or English skills.

       Standardized tests have their place, but the data must not be misinterpreted to meet the needs of special interests decrying the failures of public education or pushing school vouchers. Finding a convenient scapegoat, it’s easy to blame public schools for the nation’s anemic results on standardized tests. With an estimated 10 million undocumented workers, and millions more with legal status, public education has been stretched to the breaking point accommodating the needs of newcomers—most of whom speak little or no English. Teaching academic curricula to non-English speakers or those speaking English as a second language, represents a formidable challenge to public schools—especially in key immigration states like Arizona, Texas and California. “This is an ongoing national problem that is of very grave concern in California,” remarked, state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin, offering a more balanced explanation for why test scores continue to come up short. Putting her finger on the pulse, Eastin finally fired back at critics obsessed with blaming public schools.

       National education reform has focused too heavily on increasing accountability through standardized testing. But what good are national standards when the results are skewed to favor states with low percentages of immigrants? Nationally, only 6% of fourth-graders and 4% of eighth-graders speak English as a second language. In California, 27% of fourth-graders and 19% of eighth graders do not speak English fluently—and now more than four out of ten children in public schools are Hispanic. California alone represents 12% of the U.S. population and 13.3% of the GDP for the entire economy. Faced with far greater immigration problems than other states, California frequently makes headlines for poor school performance. All too often fingers point at the public schools when, in fact, the problem lies with dramatic demographic changes. Blaming public schools makes lively debate, energizes special interests and provides a quick whipping boy, but it doesn’t address the unsightly reality that public education is a second rate profession.

       With salaries lagging far behind other professions, public education doesn’t have the carrots needed to attract the best and brightest. Comparable salaries in other types of public service far exceed those of teachers whose paychecks remain too small and whose stress levels are too often over the top. Gone are the days when loyalty to the “noblest profession” was enough to keep pace with growing demands. Today’s immigration explosion taxes public medical, social and education services to the breaking point. Critical shortages of credentialed teachers leave public education woefully unprepared to handle the influx of newcomers now pushing the system to the brink. Adding insult to injury, new proposals to dramatically reform U.S. immigration law providing “blanket amnesty” or “legal status” to an estimated 8-million undocumented workers will exacerbate existing problems in public schools. Since the problem won’t go away anytime soon, it’s time to fix the system—not bash it or trash it.

       Facing the problem squarely, it’s time to stop bashing public schools and make the financial commitment necessary to turn things around. Like managed health care, the system collapsed when financial rewards were plundered by HMOs. When young physicians see themselves as drones working endless hours for monolithic health care entities, it doesn’t breed the kind of motivation leading to dedicated careers. “Understanding human nature, common sense, and how to make things work [when we want them to work] would respond to the proper kinds of incentives I’m talking about,” said Ronald Reagan back in 1980, talking about how he planned to reinvigorate a floundering voluntary military. Reagan got it right when he recognized that the GI Bill and other incentives improves recruitment and retains personnel. Why should it be any different in today’s inner city school war zones? If we really want young people make the sacrifices and dedicate their careers to teaching, the younger generation needs more than pep talks about serving society. President Bush is right to target education as his top priority—how his program rolls out is anyone’s guess.

       Looking at test scores tells on one small part of today’s story with public education. While streamlining administration and teaching methods only makes sense, blaming today’s failures on obsolete administration or incompetent teaching misses the mark. With populous states overflowing with newcomers speaking little English, it’s time to rein-in Monday-morning quarterbacks and pay attention to dramatic changes now taking place in most large school districts around the country. If Alaska can pay credentialed teachers $80,000 per year, other states with federal help can also upgrade salaries to encourage young people to consider teaching as a viable career. Imposing national standards on states with high immigrant populations invites more failure by setting unrealistic goals. National testing would either lead to unendurable backlogs of failed students or cynical evasions by desperate school officials fearing draconic repercussions for not passing the grade. Like the voluntary military, giving greater rewards to new recruits and augmenting the salaries of journeyman teachers is the best insurance against today’s shameful decline. National standards alone won’t fix the problem.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He’s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He’s the author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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