Special CHANGE Edition
Vol. 11, No. 4
MANDATE FOR CHANGE. President Obama’s call for change is perhaps needed most throughout an education system rife with failure and injustice. The change we need is outlined in a new, dynamic monograph of recommendations that are unique and bold, and can guide the national and state governments.
Mandate for Change argues that fixing public education is the most leveraged domestic policy opportunity of our time.
Mandate for Change does not spend a lot of time diagnosing the causes of our current afflictions. Instead, it moves immediately to prescribe a five-part cure made all the more compelling by the star power of its authors and their basic insights into the key issues at hand:
FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY. “Without the national government holding itself accountable for educating American children, the drive to reform will stall. The central question is whether President Obama is willing to take the risk of being held accountable for such a challenge.” (Juan Williams, National Public Radio)
TRANSPARENCY. “If we can track inventories of billions of inanimate objects around the world in real-time, surely we can manage the attendance of our children at school. If we can verify the quality of a product every step of the way as it moves along the manufacturing process, the education of our children deserves the same careful attention.” (Honorable John M. Engler, National Association of Manufacturers)
CHARTER SCHOOLS. “Folks are no longer accepting the status quo – nor should they be. The status quo is frightening and the statistics don’t lie.” (Kevin P. Chavous, Attorney & Education Activist)
SCHOOL CHOICE. “The fact that, generally speaking, the states have failed to ensure what their constitutions intended doesn’t mean the federal government should usurp their power, but it does mean that we must find a way to invalidate the provisions that have failed to deliver.” (Jeanne Allen, The Center for Education Reform)
TEACHER QUALITY. “I taught high school for a year in upstate New York and I was truly a lousy teacher. As a newcomer I was handed every illiterate eleventh grader they could find and also assigned cafeteria duty.... There is a difference between good and bad teachers, a big difference, and children pay a steep price for unlucky assignments.” (Richard Whitmire, National Education Writers Association)
Are you ready for a Mandate?
