Students First: Renewing Hope for California’s Future
Common sense says that the learning needs of students should come first, whether it’s making policy or teaching math. California’s diverse student population cannot be served by a one-size-fits-all model. Students come to school with differential learning needs that require different levels of resources to help prepare them for college and careers. Those closest to the students — principals, working closely with teacher leaders — should get to make key decisions that impact student learning, such as who should teach, how to allocate resources, and how to organize the school day.
Common sense says that we ought to have a system that rewards success, provides assistance to improve, and is intolerant of failure. The way to attract and retain the best and brightest into teaching and school leadership is to treat them like professionals, with safe and productive working conditions, as well as opportunities to grow on the job, work with their peers, and be rewarded for professional growth and student success.
Common sense says that Sacramento should stay the course with the high academic standards it has set for each student, but should avoid micromanaging how funds are spent in classrooms; the current hodge-podge of categorical programs, each with its own red tape and personnel, is a recipe for inefficiency.
Common sense says that we ought to make decisions based on what works, not what is fashionable or politically advantageous. That means having modified assessments and an accurate data system that can monitor the year-to-year progress of every student.
California’s current system turns common sense on its head. Too often, students are an afterthought. How else to explain a 100,000-section Education Code in which the words “student achievement” rarely appear? How else to explain how such a system can survive and, in fact, grow when less than one-quarter of students statewide are mastering reading, math, and other subjects? How else to explain our tolerating some high schools where, year after year, less than half of 9th-graders ultimately earn a diploma, and even fewer actually are prepared to succeed in college or on the job?
A student-centered system does not force good teachers and principals to work around the rules to get results. Such a system does not pay all teachers and principals the same, even though, year after year, some get better results than others. A student-centered system tries to replicate the success of high performers.
It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It is time to say “enough” and to fundamentally rethink how we have organized ourselves to educate the 6.3 million children whose future depends on our effectiveness. It is time to replace a system that gets in the way of effective teaching and successful learning with one that supports our best educators and their students. Specifically, the Committee recommends action on four inter-related priorities and a fifth key foundation. Taken together, this systemic overhaul will reduce the achievement gap and create a constantly escalating cycle of continuous improvement in our education system. Therefore, it is essential that our proposed reforms be considered as a coherent, comprehensive package. Cherry-picking proposals could make the current intolerable situation even worse. For instance, simply spending more money on ineffective programs without measuring results and rewarding success will exacerbate inefficiencies. Giving principals and teachers more authority without first ensuring they are well-prepared to wield it effectively would be irresponsible.
This is where our political leaders will have to demonstrate uncommon courage. Everyone professes to put students first. But collectively, the results suggest otherwise. Each of the state’s top-down education programs has a constituency that may feel threatened by the kinds of sweeping changes we propose. To them, we say, stand by common sense and research. The time has come for student interest to trump adult self-interest. Common sense and courage — a potent combination that can transform our flawed system, prepare our children for the opportunities ahead, and in the process, allow our state to reclaim its proud legacy as an education leader.
via Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence | Download the Summary Report | Download the Full Report
