THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 104, May 22, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
INNOVATIVE IDEAS FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION:
IDEAS DERIVED FROM REAL-LIFE EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
By Thomas G. Tancredo
FULL STORY:
As a former public school teacher and the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Regional Representative for the West, I understand what
works and what doesn’t work in our education system. And I am committed to putting this experience to work in improving our
schools – public and private.
THE NEED FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION
Recent tests and studies have shown that the academic performances of American students on both the national and international
levels are far below standards needed to excel in today’s global economy. The statistics are sobering. On the national level, forty
percent of fourth-graders still cannot read at a basic level, and half of the students from urban school districts fail to graduate on
time, if at all. Public institutions of higher education are required to spend over $1 billion annually on remedial education.
Despite the increase in federal spending on education over the last several decades, students are clearly not learning at their
greatest potential. Today, the federal government spends billions of dollars on over 800 education programs administered by 39
federal agencies. The increase in bureaucracy that has accompanied this growth has resulted in burdensome paperwork and
reporting requirements (over 48.6 million pages are produced each year to comply with federal regulations), leaving as little as 80
cents of every education dollar for the classroom. As we all know, what might work for the kids in Colorado is very different from
what might be needed in New York, Mississippi, or Montana. Yet the current system of federal grants-in-aid to the schools insists
on a one-size-fits-all approach to education -- an approach that is not working. We can and must do better.
THE NEED FOR INOVATIVE IDEAS
I believe that now is the time to implement creative, innovative ideas for improving education. Rather than relying solely on
increased federal funding, efforts must be made to return control, decision-making authority, and money back to the local level --
back to the teachers, parents, and school boards to whom we entrust our children, back to the arrangement that was originally
intended in the United States Constitution. Congress can best do this by focusing their efforts on putting more of the federal
education dollars back into the classroom, and not on bureaucrats who never see the classroom. I also believe that, before
Congress provides funding for new education programs, Congress should first and foremost fulfill its long-standing obligation
to IDEA, i.e., its obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Without this critical funding, state and local
school districts have been forced to divert money from other important programs to meet the existing mandate of IDEA. By fully
funding the federal government’s share of IDEA, local school districts will be able to spend more money on other priorities, such
as school construction, hiring teachers, or improving school technology.
The No Child Left Behind Act, while heavily touted by supporters, does little to embrace state and local level educational needs.
In fact, the act has proved next to impossible to implement -- as well as to fund -- and places unnecessary stress on local school
districts, as it fails to take into account the needs of individual schools. Instead, Congress should pass legislation that would
give local schools and school districts more flexibility in spending education dollars as they see fit, giving states like Colorado
the option of establishing a performance agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Education. States or school districts which have
their agreement approved would be able to combine funds from a few or all of the federal K-12 education programs they
administer at the state level and use those funds as they see fit. In exchange for this flexibility, participating states would be held
to strict accountability standards.
This freedom would allow states and local school districts to use federal education dollars to advance their own priorities, such as
reducing class sizes, hiring new teachers, or buying new textbooks and computers, as long as they meet the goals spelled out
under their performance agreement. State and local education leaders know better how to tailor their education programs to meet
the unique needs of their students than Washington bureaucrats who have never visited the school or the state.
Congress and state and local governments must also help the limited and zero English proficient children of immigrants to learn
English as soon as possible, thereby enabling them to achieve the same high level of academic success as their English-speaking
peers. We should also provide parents the right to choose whether or not their children participate in bilingual education
programs and allow states and local governments, along with parents, to choose the types of English language instruction
provided to limited and zero English proficient children.
With the controversy over bilingual education between the Denver Public School (DPS) system and the U.S. Department of
Education (DOE), we learned that there were some cases where Hispanic students were enrolled in bilingual classes for the entire
twelve years of their schooling. Unfortunately, some students graduating from high school still did not have a full grasp of the
English language.
It is for this reason that I strongly support efforts to reform the bilingual education system in this country. While I understand and
fully support efforts to encourage our children to become multilingual, the system that is currently in place is clearly not working.
We need to implement programs that have certain standard criteria in place for the entrance and exit from bilingual education
programs, criteria based on whether a student has the English skills necessary for success in the mainstream classrooms. We also
need to include instructional components that will ensure that students can learn English using the most efficient and effective
approaches as possible. Finally, we must limit the amount of time that students are enrolled in such programs. A three-year program
has been deemed by the U.S. Department of Education and most experts as adequate time for a student to be in such a program.
Most importantly our nation’s education policy must stress the importance of parental involvement. Involved parents, after all, can
hold our schools accountable, ensuring that our kids come first.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education & America's Schools
A Practical Guide to Homeschooling
Thomas G. Tancredo is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the Sixth Congressional District
of Colorado.
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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