Stories of the failures of Massachusetts' public education system have dominated local news headlines this week. It was reported on Monday that the Boston and Springfield metropolitan areas have some of the most segregated school systems in the nation, systems that often leave black and Latino students struggling in poorly performing schools. It was also reported on Friday that more than two-thirds of Mass. schools failed to meet federal standards for yearly progress based on MCAS test scores.
A Monday night Board of Education meeting was unsatisfying in its attempt to address these issues. Though statistics announced at the meeting indicate that the achievement gap between whites and underrepresented minorities is shrinking, it is still very much present in the Mass. school system, and the DOE presented no reasonable solutions to address the disparity.
Instead of discussing how to shrink the achievement gap further and how to address the problems of school segregation and failing test results, those on the Board debated over subcommittees and the accountability of the commissioner, rather than focusing on the most important issue &- the students.
The issue of education rarely gets as much press as it deserves. The gubernatorial candidates have failed to adequately address the problem because it lacks the potential to get the fiery response from voters that it should. Education reform is the single most wide-reaching issue in American society because it affects every other facet of life. If the education system is bad, it makes societal problems worse, increasing crime and unemployment and causing the U.S. to lag behind in the world economy.
President Barack Obama requested $210 million for education reform on Monday. This is a good step, but what politicians need to realize is that simply throwing money at the problem is not enough to really inspire positive change. What the education system needs is creative solutions from motivated individuals who truly care about the work they are doing, not a group of bureaucrats who think that problems can be solved with committees and meetings.
Washington, D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee is an education reformer who has proven that people like this do exist and that positive change is possible. Rhee's focus on merit-based rewards for successful teachers has helped improve performance in what has consistently been one of the worst public school systems in the nation. What Mass. needs is similar reformers who are willing to give the problem the attention that it deserves.
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