Superintendent Benson, NEA President Chase Blast Fordham Report
A recent Fordham Foundation report that is critical
of public school standards throughout the country was labeled "faulty,"
and "shoddy" in a strongly worded statement released by State
Superintendent John Benson. Meanwhile, NEA President Bob Chase also blasted
the report, saying it is "is completely out of line with more objective
analyses." Both statements follow.
Read
the Fordham Foundation report
In the last decade, few people in America have hurt
our children more than Chester E. Finn Jr. As president of the conservative
Fordham Foundation, he has redefined mean-spiritedness in his ongoing
assault on public schools.
Finn's most recent fiction - "The State of State
Standards 2000" - pretends to grade the states on educational standards
and accountability. In truth, the report is yet another effort to turn
public schools - this country's most successful institution - over to
profiteers.
His faulty conclusion that public education is failing
has become the Holy Grail for critics who want to spend public tax dollars
on religious and other private schools with an academic record of success
little different than their public counterparts. In his ideal world, education
is for-profit classrooms and cut-throat competition for the best students
and the wealthiest parents; disadvantaged students be damned!
If distortions, half-truths, and shoddy research weren't
so dangerous, it would be laughable. Yet, Mr. Finn ought to be feared
by those with the best interests of children in their hearts and souls
because, unfortunately, he has the ears of conservative talk-show hosts,
social engineers, and political powerbrokers.
Enough is enough.
Finn's real motives are described best by his own so-called
research. The five states that make the report's "Honor Roll"
in terms of standards are among the lowest scoring states on the only
accountability measures available: the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS).
For example, only four nations (Colombia, Iran, Kuwait,
and South Africa) scored lower than "Honor Roll" member Alabama
in math, and only six nations (the same four plus Cyprus and Belgium)
scored lower in science.
On the other hand, many of the states Finn blasts for
"irresponsible standards and weak accountability" scored extremely
high on both NAEP and TIMSS, including Connecticut, Vermont, North Dakota,
and our neighbors Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan. Very few countries can
touch these "irresponsible" states in terms of academic achievement.
According to Finn, Wisconsin is among "42 states
(that) still hold mediocre or inferior expectations for their students";
we're not irresponsible, he says, just "going through the motions."
Yet, in all comparisons of national and international achievement, the
countries with students whose performance equals or exceeds that of students
in the Badger State can be counted on one hand.
What's up, Chester? Shouldn't "mediocre standards
and weak accountability" result in low student performance?
Maybe he's playing politics, or maybe Finn is just so
far removed from reality and wrapped up in his own altered ego that simple
logic escapes him.
Most of all, I detest Finn's constant attacks because
of what they do to our schools, to our educators, and especially to our
children. No matter what public school educators do, it's never right
and it's never enough.
America is arguably the only remaining global power,
an accomplishment that I choose to believe relates directly to our ability
and willingness to educate each and every child.
Here in Wisconsin, we know what our kids can do. We
know the excellence of our teaching force, and we know that our public
high school graduates are responsible, in part, for a strong economy,
an improving environment, and a standard of living second to none.
In my estimation, Mr. Finn is a conservative ideologue,
a demagogue, and a political hack.
There is no doubt that our schools face many challenges.
The challenge, however, is to make the best better, not to destroy a public
education system that has helped to make America great.
Once again, Chester Finn has set forth a report, based
on a tortured set of criteria, that is designed to paint a picture of
public school failure -- despite a decade of progress in student achievement.
The Fordham Foundation's analysis of state education
standards and accountability measures is completely out of line with more
objective analyses, such as that published by Education Week in January
1999 which awarded 28 states with a grade of A or B.
It defies common sense for Fordham to call 21 states
"irresponsible" when many of them are at the top of every analysis
of student performance.
Any criteria that judges as failures Connecticut, Iowa,
Minnesota, New Jersey, and North Dakota -- states that by every other
measure have outstanding student achievement -- is clearly counting something
other than the quality of education provided students in the public schools.
Objective analyses and thoughtful recommendations are
helpful. The Fordham report is a far cry from either. It criticizes states
for not having high standards and accountability -- and proposes as the
solution "market-based" measures that undermine the role of
states and localities in setting standards or monitoring progress.
We will continue to advocate for changes and improvements
to assure public schools better meet the needs of all students. But we
will take our cues from parents and work to see the changes they want
-- smaller classes, high expectations for students, greater cooperation
with parents, and access to the books, materials, and educational technology
students need to be successful.
Posted January 9, 2000