Any reactions to a new national report?
My column is always written with the intention of informing the readership of “happenings, issues or procedures” specific to South Brunswick Township Public Schools. Occasionally, my topic strikes a chord with an individual or two and a dialog ensues. For the most part though, I write and you read and the exercises remain apart.
This edition may change the norm. I want to reference a recently published study entitled, “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” with the hope that I might spark a reaction. To that end, I am including a Web site address that will provide access to an executive summary of the report and its supporting documentation: www.skillscommission.org.
The “Tough Choices or Tough Times” summary is a report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce and was funded by the combined support of the Annie Casey Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation and the Lumina Foundation.
Necessarily connecting the U.S. economy and our public school systems, the report states:
“The core problem is that our education and training systems were built for another era…It is not possible to get where we have to go by patching that system: We can get where we must go only by changing the system itself.”
For those of you who have read, “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, you will sense a de ja vu with this report. The economic condition of our Nation is reported in the same language Friedman utilizes and is tied to the skills and abilities of the workforce. The report offers that the fate of our Nation is in a serious decli
ne economically and unless we redesign our public schools, “the American standard of living will steadily fall relative to those nations” that are doing a better job.
With this backdrop, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce recommends, among many others, the following:
- States, not districts, would take on the entire funding responsibility for schools;
- States would administer rigorous board exams to students after the tenth grade. These tests would open the pathway to technical schools, colleges or other further school study;
- Teachers would be hired, paid and trained by the state;
- Many states would have private contractors operate the schools.
To accomplish much of the report, local school boards and districts would relinquish much of their control over the day-to-day operation of schools. The report calls for the hiring of more able teachers, the development of a universal, high quality early childhood program for all 3 and 4 year-olds, creating more rigorous assessments that measure, among other things, teamwork and creativity, and providing the necessary resources to assist our nation’s disadvantaged students in achieving high standards.
In addition to those aspirations already mentioned, the Commission recommends “parental choice” in the selection of schools, complete governance discretion by school contractors as long as they meet accountability requirements imposed by the state and opportunities for adult members of the workforce to pursue further education.
The report is the result of two years of intense study and field research and has been published by Jossey-Bass Publishers. My purpose in sharing this information is to inform you of the beginning of a serious debate that will ensue regarding how to improve the country’s education system.
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