Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Ellen Ratner
This week we got some news on the educational abilities of American students. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the NAEP, test showed some progress in math and reading. Minority children still have some major gaps, but test scores are moving in the right direction. The fact that the testing is happening on a national basis at all is a sign of achievement and progress.

These tests and standards under the "No Child Left Behind" law have been riddled with controversy, but we are finally seeing how our students measure up when given the same test and held to the same standard from sea to shining sea. States can no longer lower their standards in order to appear superior.

It is very easy to look at the various stakeholders in the education debate and stereotype groups with sound bites such as, "We're simply teaching to the test," or "Unions don't care." But these sound bites oversimplify a complex landscape in American education. Local governments want to be the ones who determine how their schools are operated, and the federal government wants to make sure that the federal dollars are earning a return on investment. The only way to do this is to hold local schools to national standards.

The Bush administration has been raked over the coals for various reasons concerning "No Child Left Behind." Few, however, can honestly criticize the president for setting the goal to have every eighth grader on "grade level" by the year 2014. Before "No Child Left Behind," there was nothing to strive for, no goals, and no standards.

Politics across national, state, local and special interests groups has made "No Child Left Behind" a tough subject. I was at a recent event discussing education, and someone said, "National standards, the Republicans don't like "national" and the Democrats don't like 'standards.'" That is the problem in a nutshell.

As with most education, learning is often best achieved with a gifted teacher. I have recently been impressed with the instruction Mrs. Bush has brought to our schools and stakeholders. She has reached out to members of Congress, the United Nations and national and international press on the issue of education and literacy. She has tried to push though the resistance of those who don't want standards or testing.

This has not been an easy course to teach. At a recent press briefing with Education Secretary Spellings and Mrs. Bush, it became clear that the predictable alignments are not so predictable. The business community and the civil rights community want standards accountability. On the other side, some of the "abolish the Department of Education," Republicans and the National Education Association find themselves on the same side of the fence. However, the American Federation of Teachers is moving towards the setting of national standards. Considering that there were no national standards five years ago, this is monumental progress.

I'm not saying "No Child Left Behind" is perfect. I think we need a larger investment in education if we are going to be competitive in the world. And yes, while there have been some indications of "teaching to the test," on balance, reading comprehension is reading comprehension and it does not matter if you are reading about the founding of the United States of American or the "Dick and Jane" books that many older Americans had to suffer though as elementary school children.

Some critics of "No Child Left Behind" testing program say the scores were rising before the law went into effect. Others, correctly point out those individual states can set standards. But it's hard to argue with the black and white truth, which is the fact that math scores are up, and they are the highest they have been in 17 years. There is still a long way to go with reading scores needing lots of help before proficiency is met. There are still huge gaps in the differences between whites and minorities. But, the system was broken with no accountability and no national testing reports. Now we know where the deficiencies are and where we need to invest more resources to give all Americans equal opportunity.

Mrs. Bush has taken on a political minefield. There will be at least one and maybe two new presidents occupying the White House by 2014, the deadline for every child to meet grade level standards. If this is going to work, it is going to take a strong educator who is willing to use the bully pulpit to make it happen. Mrs. Bush has taken the challenge. Let's hope that the 2008 presidential candidates put it on their agenda too.