Education Week - January 18, 2017 - 28

COMMENTARY

A Dispatch From the Outgoing Education Secretary

By John B. King Jr.

ducation is a ladder. Rung by
rung, it helps people reach
places that would otherwise
be an impossible climb.
It is not enough for those already prosperous to prosper.
All Americans must have the
opportunity to meaningfully
participate in our nation's growth, if it is to
succeed. That has always been so but is even
truer today, at a time when the fastest-growing occupations require education beyond
high school.
And that is why now is the time for champions of public education to set aside the
policy differences that have divided us over
the past two decades and move forward,
together, to defend and extend this fundamental American institution.
We don't have to agree on every strategy
or tactic. We won't. But we can stop wasting
energy on false dichotomies and disparaging rhetoric. We can stop questioning our
natural allies' intentions and fight side by
side for the belief that every student in
America has the right to a great public education.
The passage just over a year ago of the
bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, or
ESSA, provides us an opportunity to begin
our work together.
The top-down, one-size-fits-all approach of
the No Child Left Behind law was a blunt
tool, ill-suited to a task that called for nuance. ESSA, on the other hand, empowers
local leaders to develop strategies that address their unique needs. But that doesn't
mean every district should go it alone without guardrails for protecting students' civil
rights, guidelines for implementing the law,
or the good ideas forged and shown to work
by others.
ESSA also calls for states to continue
making college-and-career readiness their
goal. We must be united in fighting efforts
to water down those expectations and undercut progress when the work gets hard.
Just as important, we must invest in schools
and teachers so they can help students meet
those standards. Even successful strategies
will fail without the funds to back them up-
especially in schools and neighborhoods where
change is most needed. Money is never the only
answer, but it pays for science labs and school
counselors, repairs leaky roofs, and makes
high-quality preschool possible. Yet, in districts
all across the country, students who need the
most get the least. Federal funds can help, so
we must put in place rules to ensure that those
most in need get the help they deserve. However, even a modest proposal to do so has faced
fierce opposition inside the beltway from many
who ostensibly share the same values about
education and equity.
We also must have the courage to hold ourselves accountable for students' success. Without accountability, standards are meaningless
and equity is a charade.
But accountability doesn't force us to embrace "test and punish" policies based on redundant or poor-quality assessments; nor does
it require us to simply "wish and hope," with no
tests and little insight into how, or whether, our
children are learning.
We should make sure tests are better, fairer,
and fewer, as President Barack Obama has
called for. And we should help states develop accountability systems that are rich and varied-

including measures such as chronic absenteeism, access to and success in advanced courses,
and approaches to discipline that help students
improve their behavior and achievement.
Let's also set aside the false debate between
allowing public charter schools and supporting
traditional public schools. Our primary concern shouldn't be the management structure
of schools; it should be whether they serve all
students well. We must demand that charter
authorizers set a high bar for granting a charter, rigorously monitor academic and operational performance, and close charter schools
that fail their students. At the same time, we
must insist that district schools also provide
a high-quality, well-rounded education for all
their students.
And we must get beyond either exalting
teachers as heroes who can single-handedly
solve all education problems or castigating
them for failing to do so. We should instead
recognize that teaching is an incredibly difficult job, requiring dozens of decisions every
hour. We can invest in teachers' preparation
and development at the same time that we
welcome their expertise and leadership on the
challenges they face and the issues that affect
their students.
Teachers need more resources and the higher
pay they surely deserve, particularly those
serving the highest-need students. They also
need the space and opportunity-the clinically

28 | EDUCATION WEEK | January 18, 2017 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary

rich preparation, the collaboration
time, and the career pathways-to do
what they joined the profession to do:
help all children reach their full potential.
Finally, we must recognize that the
growing diversity of our people is an
asset, not a liability, and support diverse schools. Diversity helps more
children succeed, broadens their perspectives, and prepares them for the
global workforce. I am convinced the
growing conflicts in this country over
race, religion, and language would
be profoundly reduced if our children
learned and played alongside classmates who are different from themselves and if they encountered diverse
teachers and leaders in their schools.
The light of opportunity shines more
brightly and more widely today than it
did eight years ago. Thanks to the hard
work of teachers, leaders, students,
families, policymakers, and advocates,
the high school graduation rate is 83
percent, an all-time high; achievement
gaps are closing; and the most recent
college graduating class was the largest and most diverse in history.
But, too many students still don't
finish high school, and when they do,
too many aren't ready for college. The
relationship between poverty and educational achievement in the United
States is among the strongest in the
world. This destroys hope. But we can
restore hope by working to ensure all
young people are well-prepared to complete a postsecondary degree or training program.
Some will argue equity conflicts with
liberty. But it's not liberty when the
happenstance of birth binds a child to a
Jonathan Bouw
life of limited possibilities. True liberty
for Education Week
is being able to take our lives as far as
our drive and talent allow.
The Pledge of Allegiance affirms that
liberty and justice for all is an enduring and dual birthright. Preserving that birthright requires advocates of public education-
including teachers, parents, business leaders,
elected officials, and union leaders-to all be a
part of the solution.
We must all press ahead, firm in the knowledge that when we pull others up, they do not
pull us down. When the light of opportunity
shines on those who lack it, it does not dim for
those already in its glow. n

It's not liberty when
the happenstance of
birth binds a child
to a life of limited
possibilities."

JOHN B. KING JR. concludes his tenure as the U.S.
secretary of education this week.

| INSIDE |

WILL BETSY
DEVOS DIVIDE THE
SCHOOL CHOICE
MOVEMENT?

LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

WHAT THE ELECTION
ACTUALLY REVEALS
ABOUT RURAL
EDUCATION

POLICY SUGGESTIONS
FOR THE NEW
ADMINISTRATION

http://www.edweek.org/go/commentary

Education Week - January 18, 2017

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