ShareThisPresident Obama's ambitious plans to overhaul the nation's public school system with a $100 billion infusion of taxpayer money as part of the general rebuilding of the economic infrastructure has some major hurdles to clear, not the least of which is his own party's traditional opposition to some of the changes he is recommending.
Then there is the perception of some Americans that, strictly as a parent and without his presidential hat, he seems particularly distant from the problems of public schools, having chosen to send his own girls to an expensive private school and having himself been educated in a private school. Given the deplorable condition of the District of Columbia's public schools, one can hardly blame him. But it would be fair to ask, given his background, whether he would have made another decision even if Washington had a model public system.
Most of D.C.'s teachers in a system that has resisted improvement for decades are members of the very unions that have so vehemently opposed measures Obama believes would make things better, including merit pay, charter schools and the controversial voucher system that allows parents to send their bright students to private schools on the government's dime. Michelle Rhee, the brilliant, revolutionary young superintendent here, has faced one teacher obstacle after another in her drive to bring the system up to acceptable standards.
Then, of course, there is another huge problem for the president. The federal government doesn't have a lot to do with public schools, other than in such programs as No Child Left Behind, a George Bush initiative that has faced an onslaught of complaints. The public schools are mainly controlled by state and local authorities and funded by real estate and other property taxes. Even the promise of a new infusion of federal dollars isn't likely to change things much without the full cooperation of the two major unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
In reality, outside the nation's most urbanized centers, there are outstanding public schools. Two of the counties nearest to this city have high schools nationally ranked among the top 100 best in the country, including Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, Va., that recently was rated number one. So what is being discussed here mainly are those inner city districts where the problems are so difficult they may be beyond anyone's ability to reform even with money. Again, look at the nation's capital where student per capita spending is at the top of the national charts.
How, for instance, does one force parental support, an element absolutely essential for a successful program? How are educators expected to instill pride and purpose when their charges go home to deplorable conditions every night?
How does one alter a culture where role models are mainly street people? With rare exceptions, these problems are unfixable without eliminating the underlying causes of desolation and poverty or by removing an entire generation of youngsters from their environments.
Every president promises to bring the public school system to new heights. None have been able to do so for many of the reasons stated above. Actually, there are a host of small, relatively inexpensive things that would prevent, to be trite, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Boys and girls could be taught separately in recognition of different learning skills, mixing socially in school activities outside the classroom and hours could be adjusted in the later grades to give students a little more sleeping time, a simple act that studies show greatly improves their responsiveness.
Obama's goals aren't wrong and no one can fault him for a sweeping view of what needs to be done. They are just somewhat unrealistic as long as basic support and authority reside mainly outside the federal purview. Tossing $100 billion at the problem isn't likely to overcome the obstacles. Besides, too often those trying to do the fixing hold their noses while mentioning "public schools," a subject they also know little about.
(E-mail Dan K. Thomasson, former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, at thomassondan(at)aol.com.)
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