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SPEAKOUT: Education reform a fragile flower

By William Moloney

Published June 17, 2008 at 4:47 p.m.

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A wise man once said that real change is real hard and takes real time. Just how hard and how much time is well illustrated by the experience of two states with very similar reform sagas: Massachusetts and Colorado.

Sadly, today they are also both cautionary tales about how quickly the painstaking progress of many years can be turned upside down by a sudden change in the political weather.

Massachusetts and Colorado both began their reform in 1993 in bipartisan fashion. In the Bay State, Republican Gov. William Weld partnered with a Democratic legislature to craft a far- reaching structure of standards, testing and accountability. Here in the Centennial State, Democrat Roy Romer achieved a similar result with a Republican legislature.

Over time, Massachusetts strengthened its reforms by three critical measures that also were discussed in Colorado but never enacted.

First, passage of an exit exam became a requirement for the high school diploma.

Second, to ensure that all schools would benefit from the reforms, the state created a system of curriculum frameworks to enforce standards.

Finally, the state introduced a system for testing teachers, asserting that if students must show proficiency, it was only fair that teachers should, too.

Not surprisingly, all these initiatives were bitterly opposed by the Massachusetts teacher unions. Nonetheless, Massachusetts officials persisted, and the reforms began to take hold. Striking improvements began to appear.

In 2005, Massachusetts became the first state to place first in all four testing categories - reading, writing, mathematics and science - of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, better known as the "Nation's Report Card."

When Massachusetts repeated this feat in the next testing cycle, 2007, the state's education reform act was hailed as the most successful reform initiative of the past half-century.

However, none of this impressed the state's teacher unions, which had concluded the best way to get rid of reform was to get rid of reformers. Accordingly, they poured $3 million into the successful campaign of the 2006 Democratic candidate for governor, Deval Patrick.

Patrick wasted little time in demonstrating what a fine investment the unions had made. His first budget eliminated the state's independent education accountability office. He then rammed through legislation shortening the terms of reform-minded members of the state Board of Education and enlarging the board, thus enabling him to pack it with his own union-approved, anti-reform appointees. To those who challenged his actions, Patrick replied, "Grow up."

So, what are the similarities in Massachusetts and Colorado?

In both states, new Democratic governors succumbed to opponents of the existing order, particularly the unions, which had so extravagantly supported their election. Without credible evidence, both accepted the premise that all previous reforms had somehow failed and must be replaced.

In Colorado, the gap between the soaring rhetoric of Gov. Bill Ritter's State of the State address and the legislature's final product - CAP4K - is stunning. Because the stakeholders couldn't agree on specifics, the can was kicked far down the road by saddling the state Board of Education with a long list of tasks but not the time, money or staff to accomplish them.

If the goal is to preserve deniability through the next election, this is great stuff. In the meantime, reform in Colorado is entering a period of suspended animation where it has been made clear that the old regime, particularly the dreaded CSAP, is on its last legs but that it will be years before people learn what the new regime looks like.

The only winners in this are foot-dragging cynics who said, "This too shall pass." The losers are those educators who for years made a good faith effort - with some great successes - and are now told it was all a bad idea.

Former Colorado Education Commissioner William Moloney's columns have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and the Baltimore Sun.

Comments

  • June 18, 2008

    12:41 a.m.

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    olsonmt writes:

    This is an excellent opinion piece. Our children are forever pawns in a grand political game. Techers unions are the worst thing to ever happen to public education.

  • June 18, 2008

    7:49 a.m.

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    JohnSWren writes:

    What is the solution? I'm going to read this column, make it the topic for discussion today (Wed, June 18). Join us, especially if you are a teacher, parent, or administrator with an idea about how Optimist Clubs, who's main focus is being of service to youth, could help with this problem.

    Denver South Optimist Club, Perkin's, Colorado Blvd and Buchtel (just South of I25 & Colorado), Noon to 1:15 p.m. $15, includes lunch.

  • June 18, 2008

    12:42 p.m.

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    MrPeabody writes:

    As a former teacher, thank you for this piece. Long overdue.

    I'm flabbergasted that Massachusetts could be a good example for anything but the NAEP is a very good test. I administered it to my students several times. Any state that finishes first on that test is doing something right.

    The NEA and CEA talks the talk about being for improving education but the reality is that when anything threatens their little kingdom, they fight it tooth and nail and that includes accountability. Early in my career when I looked closely at the NEA and the items up for discussion at their national convention, it became obvious to me that they were simply an advocacy group for the democrat party. Most of the items had nothing whatsoever to do with education and were totally against my political leanings. I paid my dues mostly for the liability insurance. Otherwise, I would never have joined the union.

  • June 18, 2008

    2:59 p.m.

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    PI writes:

    olson and pajama, Thanks for taking a break from your circle jerk for your usual anti-union propoganda postings. This newspaper does enough of that without your help so please allow rational peeople the space to express themselves against the bennet/hickenlooper/limousine liberal machine.