Articles

To get a good school system, do we have to start over?

Public Agenda
Dec. 21, 2006

One of the biggest stories in education recently was the report from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. The high-powered group says the threat of competition from China and India is so serious, and the problems facing U.S. public education so dire, that the U.S. ought to effectively start over. The recommendations included bringing in private contractors to run schools and dramatic changes in teacher compensation. Proponents are already saying this report will be as significant as the famous "A Nation at Risk" report in the 1980s.

We won't pretend to have analyzed all the report's recommendations. But we will say that this kind of fundamental transformation of American education can only happen by bringing the public into the process. And our research shows there are significant perception gaps between all the groups involved -- parents, teachers, administrators and students.

For one thing, American parents don't have the same urgency about international competition that's clearly driving the commission report. Our surveys show most parents think their child will have the skills to succeed -- even if many business leaders believe they're wrong. When it comes to math and science, the areas where business leaders are most worried and competition with India and China is most critical, most American parents are actually less concerned than they were a decade ago.

The report also calls for dramatic increases in both the amount and structure of teacher compensation to attract the best people. But our research consistently shows that the frustrations of teachers aren't just about pay. They feel they're scapegoated for school problems and they are far more dissatisfied with reforms like standardized testing than other groups.

So what are parents and teachers concerned about? Discipline, for a start, and their concern about safe and orderly schools for their kids. If asked to choose, most teachers say smaller class sizes would do more to improve education than higher pay.

The kind of clarion call for reform that the Skills Commission sent out is vital. But reform, whether radical or incremental, can't take hold unless the public buys into it. Any plan needs to take into account the concerns parents and teachers have in their day-to-day lives -- because it's in those everyday efforts that
change really occurs.

Read the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce report:
http://www.skillscommission.org/

Read The Washington Post story on the report:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401532.html

Find out more about what parents and teachers think in these
Public Agenda reports:

Reality Check 2006:
http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/
realitycheck06/realitycheck06_main.htm

Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools
Foster the Common Good?
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/
research_reports_details.cfm?list=3

Stand by Me: What Teachers Really Think About Unions, Merit Pay and Other
Professional Matters
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/
research_reports_details.cfm?list=10

Copyright 2007 Public Agenda. More information: www.publicagenda.org.

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