Last night President Bush acknowledged the important unfinished business before Congress and his administration and recognized that the American people expect results.
The nation's educators, including the 175,000 members of ASCD, fully support high-quality, results-driven learning and teaching that benefit the whole child. Every day, educators willingly accept the challenge of educating the nation's more than 48 million public school students, all too often despite inadequate resources and support. That's why we appreciate the President's call for increased flexibility in policies to help states and districts turn around struggling schools. Allowing states and districts to tailor interventions to each individual school and measure individual students' achievement over time are sound policies Congress and the administration should authorize this year.
We also support the President's calls for encouraging our best teachers to take jobs in underperforming schools. We must reward teachers who successfully raise student achievement in low-income schools. The research is clear on the positive effects of high-quality instruction in economically disadvantaged schools. The time for Congress and the administration to act on this is now.
We also agree we must do more to help children when their schools do not measure up. But diverting limited public resources toward private school vouchers is not the answer. We need real resources targeted toward the schools and students that need them most. Vouchers as public policy are a failure, no matter what the name.
As we move forward, we are hopeful this and future Congresses and administrations will recognize that today's students are tomorrow's leaders. It is time for Congress to act to provide the skills necessary to educate the whole child and ensure 21st century readiness. This means more resources for schools, more instructional flexibility for educators, fewer administrative requirements, and more support for our children both inside and outside the school building.
Educating the whole child to ensure today's young people grow up to become successful members of our workforce and society should be a top domestic priority in 2008. We urge Congress and the administration to demonstrate their commitment to this goal in enacting sound education policies that benefit the nation's public school students.
Founded in 1943, ASCD, a nonprofit association, is one of the largest professional development organizations for educator leaders. It provides education information services; offers cutting-edge professional development for effective learning, teaching, and leadership; and supports activities to provide educational equity for all students. ASCD's membership of more than 175,000 includes principals, teachers, superintendents, professors of education, and other educators from 119 countries. The Association also has nearly 60 affiliates throughout the world.
