Our Students Deserve Quality Reform

(3/14/2011)

The legislative session has concluded and by all appearance our public schools have been saved from budget cuts. I'm ecstatic our schools avoided any further budget reductions -- there is inadequate funding in Utah's public education. But I'm disappointed in the way Utah's public education system has avoided making difficult decisions during the "Great Recession."  This same period has forced businesses and families to get creative, to achieve higher levels of productivity and innovation during these economically hard times.  Former Washington DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle recently noted that the budget deficits plaguing states and districts across the country could create a golden opportunity for effective education reforms.

However, Utah's public schools have changed little -- and there is nowhere improvements are more critical than in public education.  Utah's students deserve better.  We must leverage this economic period and inadequate funding as an opportunity to drive effective reforms.  Our state can lead in improving the quality of education for every student during these hard times through thoughtful and creative reform and prioritization, such as:

1. Develop a strategic plan. As a state, we must create a unified strategic plan that guides decision-making and funding for education reforms, ensuring our efforts, passion, and commitment to the students of Utah translate to meaningful support for student learning and achievement. A strategic plan for K-12 public education will provide a framework for making decisions on funding, supporting those objectives which best achieve desired outcomes and de-emphasizing those which do not. And the development of a strategic plan must identify specific, quantifiable milestones--for example, reading on grade level by the third grade--that demonstrate progress towards the desired objective along the way.

2. Better and more accurately measure student performance. Unfortunately, one of the first things that have been cut from public education is the measuring of student achievement. The state has eliminated the Iowa and Stanford measurements as well as Utah's assessments of basic skills. The CRT exams, which are required by the federal government, remain but they are not the best measures of academic learning. Consistent and accurate statewide learning measurements are necessary if we are to understand the degree to which any changes and investments are working.

3. Separate the "must do's" from the "nice to do's." This process must be inclusive at every level and requires hard questions to be examined. To what degree does our subsidizing of busing, cafeteria lunch and breakfast, or driver's education (all of which are heavily subsidized for all users, rather than simply for those with low-incomes) come at the expense of reading specialists in elementary schools or smaller class sizes in order to teach Algebra in an earlier grade? To what degree does release-time seminary, rather than early-morning seminary, come at the expense of students taking a more rigorous academic schedule in high school? None of these are popular questions to ask, but there should be no "sacred cows" when truly initiating a desire to reform and improve student learning.

4. Better leverage technology as a tool for teachers. Used appropriately, technology can increase time for teaching by reducing efforts assessing students. Through technology-enabled instant feedback on student performance, schools can more effectively meet students' learning needs.

5. Eliminate the school district structure and funnel support and professional development monies directly to schools. With the state defining and measuring rigorous learning outcomes for which every school must demonstrate sustainable improvement, local flexibility can be extended by allowing each school to select the individualized services best suited for it. The private sector can then compete in providing only those services the individual schools believe they most need.

6. End the "last hired; first fired" practices, which studies show hurt both students and teachers. Through rigorous teacher evaluation, accurate student performance measurements, and meaningful professional development, support and retain our best teachers.

7. Reexamine the ways teachers are compensated. Eliminate salary scales that reward teachers for advanced degrees that have no measurable impact on student achievement. Instead, generously reward teachers for improved student learning (which will simultaneously incent teachers to work in low performing schools).

8. Allocate funding based on student classroom attendance, special and socioeconomic needs, and the percentage of improvement made toward measureable student performance goals.

There are other ideas, likely better ideas. My hope in writing these columns is not to suggest knowledge of the best ideas; rather it is to instigate a discussion surrounding how we as a state can improve the quality of something as critical as educating our children. Public education in Utah requires a strategic plan that aligns resources with our highest priorities. Our children deserve it, and our future societal and economic prosperity as a state requires improved public education.