Branstad’s Education Reforms, Social Promotion & My Big Mouth

Last night I joined 40 or so other Iowans in addressing the Iowa House on the topic of education reform. It is somewhat difficult to keep one’s remarks to under three minutes when speaking on such a broad topic.

As are many others, I am frustrated by the partisan gamesmanship played by many in elected office these days. I decided to take part of my allotted time to address this issue by urging House members to seek a higher and better course. Perhaps I wasted valuable time, but it felt good to look some of these people in the eye and say what I truly felt.

It was my intent to support Governor Branstad’s proposal to cease passing students to fourth grade who do not meet the minimum standards in reading and other areas. I have long opposed the process known as social promotion. However, making a student repeat the same grade without providing intensive instruction to get him on track may be no better than passing him along and hoping he catches up later.  It is one thing to hold a kid back and another to provide the support he needs to achieve.

I may have fallen short in delivering my message about social promotion, at least I did for those who wrote the account for the Des Moines Register. The fault is mine - the pressure of the ticking three-minute clock did not help. Radio Iowa and the Quad City Times had a slightly different take on my comments. You can judge my remarks for yourself as I include below the notes I used last night when I spoke.

Notes for Iowa House Education Hearing, March 5, 2012
Governor Branstad articulated a vision for our schools and has done much to foster the debate about the best way forward. No other government program is as important to Iowa’s future as education. While I favor some of the Governor’s proposals, I am skeptical of others and I firmly object to a number of them; but he did what a governor is supposed to do. He focused the debate and brought a thorough proposal to the General Assembly for consideration. I thank Governor Branstad for that.

So, that brings us to the proverbial ball landing in your court. You write the rulebook by passing laws and you alone carry the checkbook to fund Iowa’s government. It is an arduous and, all-too-often, thankless task.

However, if a need for gratitude was what motivated you to stand for election, you are likely to be among the most disappointed people of all times. There are many differences between elected office and pee wee soccer – for one, only in the pee wees can every participant expect a trophy just for showing-up. Here you are expected to make the tough choices and you will often be widely criticized when you do. I know something about this as a former Des Moines School Board member.

The pervasive destructiveness of modern politics has driven too many of you into the bunkers of your party caucuses. The laser focus on trying to add to your party’s ranks in the next election is shallow and shortsighted. A successful democracy’s solutions are not found by producing a unified drumbeat to drown out the voices of other party, but by rising beyond the perceived comfort of those you agree and seeking common ground with those across the aisle – do that and great things can happen – do that and the petty politics perpetuated by your leaders will dissolve.

The education of Iowa’s schoolchildren is that common ground. For the sake of Iowa’s future, lay down your partisan banners and find areas in Branstad’s proposal on which you can agree.
I’ll mention two. The first is a minimum standard for elementary students – call it a ban on social promotion or retention for those who do not meet minimum achievement benchmarks. Too many students are pushed through and out of schools because programs are not designed to meet their needs. It is Iowa’s great shame. But, a law that only penalizes fails the student by making him repeat the classes and lessons that did not work for him the first time compounding the problem with humiliation and convincing the student he is a failure.

Pass a law to create and fund alternative programs that ensure struggling students get on-track to a successful future. The cookie-cutter style education systems in this state, most painfully obvious during the middle years, need to be scrapped in favor of programs that teach based on models designed to help each student find her individual success

Last, and most important, stop trying to micromanage the classroom. Treat teachers like the professionals they are. It’s OK for you to set standards for performance, but no law or rule or criteria can be written that will fit every school, every class and every teacher/student combination in our state. It is quite popular these days for legislatures to pass laws that sound good in a campaign stump speech. In reality, they bind professional teachers’ hands and make it harder for them to advance learning. Stop making teachers jump through standardized test hoops and start giving them the resources they need as professionals to do the critical job of educating.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important topic.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.