If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy

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I will never be Secretary of Education.

Frankly, I’m just not qualified.

I’m only a classroom teacher. The powers that be don’t trust someone like me with that kind of responsibility. It’s okay to give me a roomful of impressionable children everyday, but there’s no confidence I can make sound policy decisions. For that we need someone with experience in management – not schools, pedagogy, children or psychology.

The presiding incumbent in this prestigious position, John King, somehow overcame that handicap. He had taught for three whole years at a charter school, but the bulk of his experience is in administration – administrating a Boston charter school with high suspension and attrition rates. He also was New York State Education Commissioner, where he single-handedly dismantled the state system of education and sparked one of the largest parental revolts in the nation in the state’s opt out movement.

The previous Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was much more qualified, having never taught a day in his life. Before getting Congressional approval, he was appointed to run a charter school and later was entrusted as CEO of Chicago City Schools where he likewise blundered his way to the top with policy decisions that devastated a great system of public education.

What do I have to offer compared to all that? I only have more than a decade’s worth of experience helping kids learn. I’m only one of 3% of teachers nationwide who are Nationally Board Certified. I’ve only earned a Masters degree in Education. I only help run a more than 56,000 member national education advocacy group, the Badass Teachers Association, and write a popular blog dedicated to education and civil rights.

 

I’ve never sunk a major metropolitan school. I’ve never been run out of a populous state chased by citizens armed with torches and pitchforks.

But let’s close our eyes and imagine that somehow through the magic of education bloggery I was whisked into office at the U.S. Department of Education.

What would a person like me do as Secretary?

1) Respect the Limits of the Job

Though George W. Bush and Barack Obama come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, these two Presidents did more to increase the powers of the Department of Education than any chief executives before them. They turned it into – as former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander puts it – a national school board with the Secretary was the national superintendent.

The department forced test and punishment policies on the states, cudgeled and bribed state officials to enact lousy Common Core Standards, and held federal grants hostage unless states accepted every corporate education reform scheme big business could think up.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a New Deal Franklin D. Roosevelt Democrat, but even I think these two administrations blatantly abused their power and overstepped their Constitutional authority.

So the first thing I would do is take a step back and follow the law. The recently enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) sets explicit limits on federal power over education policy returning much of it to the states. As Education Secretary, I would respect the power of the states to control public education. It is the state’s job to set policy. It is the federal government’s job to provide support, encouragement and oversight.

Therefore, the role of the Department of Education is to ensure public schools are being properly funded, civil rights are not being violated and to be a repository for national data and research. I’d dedicate myself to that – not some corporate fueled power trip that both parties condemn except when they’re practicing it.

2) Push for More Federal Funding for Public Schools

Therefore, the first thing I would do is use the full power of the office to ensure the federal government is giving its utmost to help state public schools. I would use whatever grants were available to increase federal funding to the most impoverished schools. I would fully fund Title I. I would increase the federal share of Special Education – (Under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) the federal government is supposed to fund 40% of the per pupil cost of all special education students but has never met this obligation. I would seek to rectify that if possible.) I would enact a national after school tutoring initiative. I would provide funding to hire additional teachers to reduce class size.  And as far as is possible, I would forgive college students loan debt so they can begin their lives with a clean slate.

This is something that those who seek to disband the U.S. Department of Education never seem to understand. The federal government has an important role to play in our school systems. It’s not the unfounded power grab of the last few decades, but we need another robust player on the field to help the states achieve their goals and also to keep the states honest.

If we disbanded the Department of Education, as some conservatives from Reagan to Paul to Cruz to Trump suggest, what would happen to Pell Grants, for instance? What would happen to the bundles of federal money that boost our public schools? Who would make sure states are doing their jobs? Where could we go to find accurate data about how our schools are doing nationally and not just state-by-state?

If we got rid of the department, at best these jobs would fall back on other government agencies that haven’t the funding, staff or ability to accomplish them. More likely, it would result in the elimination of billions of education dollars that the states simply couldn’t (or wouldn’t) replace. Abuses against students on the grounds of civil rights, gender, special education, etc. would skyrocket with little to no recourse. And we would be in the dark about how well we were educating our nation’s children.

3) Encourage States to Enact Accountability Measures that Don’t Include Standardized Testing

Accountability has become a dirty word in many education circles because of the way the Bush and Obama administrations have perverted it to mean test and punish. It has become a boondoggle for the standardized testing industry, an excuse to close poorly funded and often urban public schools to be replaced by unaccountable charter schools. While this is a terrible misuse of federal power, states must be responsible for the education they provide their children. And contrary to popular belief, this can be accomplished without resorting to the usual corporate reform measures.

As Secretary, I would put an immediate stop to the era of test and punish at the federal level. As it stands, the ESSA allows states to determine what they will use to demonstrate their educational progress for students. This is a state decision, but I would encourage states not to use standardized testing. I would offer to help any state interested to find new ways to show accountability. For instance, districts could submit to a simple audit showing student-teacher ratios, per pupil funding, discipline data broken out by race, degree of segregation, richness of the curriculum, etc.

Let me be clear: it is up to states to make these decisions. As Secretary, I would have no power to force legislatures or departments of education to do any of this. However, I’m willing to bet that many states would be excited by these possibilities and jump at the opportunity. Helping them achieve this would be my job.

4) Stop Federal Funding to Charter Schools, Teach for America and Common Core

Speaking of encouragement, I would stop all federal help for corporate education reform policies. That means turning off the money faucet for programs that enrich corporations and big business at the expense of school children.

This means not one more federal dollar to help private companies open new charter schools. Teach for America would have to rely on its corporate donors, not the taxpayers. And the Common Core gravy train would come to a screeching halt. No more money to help states enact the standards, no more bags of cash for book publishers and test manufacturers.

If states that had enacted the Core wanted to keep it, fine. If not, fine. But they would be on their own.

(In a sad aside, opposition to Common Core is most virulent from conservatives, yet there are an awful lot of state legislatures completely in GOP control that could get rid of Common Core tomorrow but which have done – and continue to do – nothing about it. No matter who the next Education Secretary is, the fate of Common Core is in the hands of state legislatures across the country – not the President, not Congress and not the Education Secretary. There’s far too much rhetoric and not nearly enough action.)

5) Do Everything I Can to Increase Teacher Autonomy, Respect, Pay and Training

Finally, I would use my position as Education Secretary to boost the greatest resource we have to help students learn – teachers. I would speak out on the need for educators to have autonomy in the classroom so they are empowered to meet student needs. I would work to increase public perception and respect for the profession. We simply can’t afford teacher bashing, because when you disrespect educators, you reduce their power to help kids. I would boost teachers pay through matching state grants. If you want the best possible teachers, you have to pay for them. If you want to attract the best people to the field, you need to ensure they will have a reliable middle class income and not have to work a second job or use their own money to buy school supplies. I would invest federal funds in training programs so the newest crop of teachers are up to date with the latest pedagogy and techniques. I would encourage more people of color to enter the field. And I would partner with teachers unions to strengthen protections for teachers while educating the public on the meaning of due process and the reality that strong unions mean fewer bad teachers in the classroom.

 

Are there more things we need to do to help improve our national system of public education? Certainly.

 

We need to start integrating schools again and stop the constant push to segregate through charter schools and white flight. We need to ensure every student receives adequate, equitable, sustainable funding. We need to change charter school laws so that they can’t cherry pick students and are as transparent and accountable as traditional public schools. We need to stop closing struggling schools and address root causes. We need to stop state takeovers except under the most dire of circumstances and set limits on how long states can stay in control. And we need to pass strong student privacy laws – even updating the Family Education Privacy Act (FERPA) to protect our children from predatory ed-tech companies that constantly data mine students and sell millions of data points on our children to the highest bidder.

There are a whole host of things needing done. However, most of these things go beyond the powers of the Department of Education and its cabinet level Secretary. They can only be addressed by the President, Congress, state legislatures and/or the court system. The Education Department can help steer that agenda, it can be an ally to real positive change, but it can’t go it alone.

Unfortunately, no matter who wins the Presidency in November – Clinton or Trump – neither seems likely to nominate an Education Secretary who would do any of the things I’ve outlined.

 

For all his talk of reducing the size of the government, Trump proposes increasing the federal footprint with school choice initiatives turning the Department of Education into a wheelbarrow marked “free money” for big business and parochial schools while forcing states to accept his school policies. Meanwhile, Clinton is likely to continue the course set by Bush and Obama of embracing every corporate school reform package from which Wall Street benefits.

It’s a crazy time full of crazy candidates and crazy solutions, but of this we can be sure – no one is crazy enough to let a teacher make decisions about public education policy.

42 thoughts on “If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy”

  1. If Trump is elected president, everyone that did not vote for him should consider seeing asylum in other countries like China or Finland. And anyone who wrote from any social media source anything negative about Trump will probably have to hire bodyguards/lawyers even if they are the citizens of another country.

    Liked by 2 people

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  2. Steven, thanks for your work. I appreciate what you do. I have just added these 5 suggestions to my next book, “The Power of Story.” I only disagree with one thing you said (see your #5): I may change your word “training” to professional development. Our language matters….

    Thanks,
    Joan

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      • Hi Steven, I’m a real stinker on how we use language, and I just do not believe that we “train” new teachers either. I do train my dogs and my horses….

        However, I must tell you that your work is excellent. Very honest. I read all of your blogs.

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  4. Can I VOTE for you? I agree with every single point above. I have long mourned the fact that education administrators at *any* level aren’t required to have at least 5 years of classroom experience.

    Would IBM have a CEO who had no understanding of what it took to program a computer? Would network television hire executives and producers who didn’t have the background to recognize good acting and writing? Would the DEA have somebody at the top who didn’t understand basic pharmacology and the difference between recreational and medical use? Could our country be run by a President with zero political experience?

    OH WAIT. On second thought, I guess its all congruent. God help us all – and I pray for futures of the generation of kids who are being taught to pass the tests and hit the metrics.

    God bless all of you who struggle to teach in this environment none-the-less. Thank you. If we still have a planet when I’m very old, I certainly want the people running the world to have been well educated – regardless of the test scores on the Core.

    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to educate a world!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks for the vote of confidence, Madelyn. I, too, think it make sense to have a profession overseen by one of its practitioners. The most frustrating thing though is that we seem to have so little control over the outcome here. The next President will get to nominate a new Education Secretary, and it’s doubtful it will be anyone who would act in any way like I’ve described.

      Liked by 1 person

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      • As long as our next president doesn’t start a nuclear war I think we will have survived intact, but the dubious quality of our educational system may not be so fortunate.

        I, too, feel impotent, hardly likely to affect the outcome in MANY arenas. But still, I blog.
        xx,
        mgh

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Thank you for this. I have been a special education teacher for two years. I never thought I’d be that teacher who wanted to quit forever. I am now that teacher. For all the reasons you listed above.

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  8. You certainly have my vote. Of course, another thing that disqualifies you is that everything you say makes such complete, rational, perfect sense.

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  14. I find myself in agreement with many of your concepts. One thing I do not understand, is why you do not mention anything about empowering parents to have more control over their children’s education. If I were a parent, I would be very nervous about turning over my children’s mind, education, and future to the government. “Government is like fire, a dangerous servant, and a terrible master”. -George Washington

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    • Cemab4y, I am a parent, too. I do believe in parents rights. However, I think strengthening control of schools at the local level does empower parents. Local government is not a monolithic entity. It is not Big Brother. It IS parents and community members. I understand your caution about the federal government. I understand caution about state government. But local government is just you and your community working together for the betterment of all. I think you have bought too much fearmongering from the right about government, they who hate it when it helps the little person and love it when it benefits the rich. As to homeschooling, I support it. That’s not what I have chosen for my daughter, but I support a parents right to do so.

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      • I am not a parent. I am distrustful of government at all levels. I lived through Watergate and Vietnam . I have also lived in an Islamic Kingdom, and a communist dictatorship. I am not cynical, but I am not naïve either. Politicians get off on the power rush. If I had children, I would be nervous about turning them over to a government-run school. The government runs the curriculum, selects the teachers, determines the testing, even decides if the children will do push-ups or jumping jacks in the phys ed class. This is government control of young minds.

        I am glad that you still believe you can influence your local government. The recent election convinced me that the people cannot control the federal government. The person with the most votes lost. This is democracy on its head.

        Still, I would rather have what we have , than any government I have lived under.

        “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”

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      • Cemab4y, I too am distrustful of government. But I believe in Democracy. That’s why I love public schools. They are essentially democratic institutions run in public by the public and subject to the vote of the public. That’s why I don’t support so-called “school choice.” It advocates for schools paid for with public taxes that aren’t run by the public, aren’t run in public view and that aren’t subject to public vote. That is not Democracy. That is like something you’d see in the Soviet Union, but Republicans and Democrats alike push for it. There is something terribly wrong with our political parties when this nonsense is called American. Our forefather are rolling in their graves.

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    • Since when do parents turn our children’s minds over to the govenrment to program? that has seldom to never been the case in the United States.

      The traditional public schools in the U.S. are actually protected from a central govenrment educating our children (like a dictatorship does) by the very nature of the system. The first attempt to destroy that system was with NCLB; then RTTT, and its Common Core test, rank-and-punish crap managed from Washington DC.

      That was the first attempt to centralize public education in the U.S.

      To be clear, most traditional pubic schools are community based, democratic (managed and watched over by locally elected school boards of citizens that live in the same community who have to answer to voters), transparent, and non-profit. There are about 15,000 separate school districts watched over by 50 states that have their own Constitutions, legislation and laws that were written with our children in mind, to protect them from a central govenrment programing them to think one way.

      Did you know that about a 3rd of traditional public school teachers are registered Republicans and almost half are registered Democrats with the rest independent voters.

      But what happens when those schools are gone and have been replaced by autocratic, opaque/secretive, often fraudulent and inferior, cherry picking, child abusing corporate charter schools run by CEO’s like Betsy DeVos, the Walmart Walton family, Eli Broad, or the Koch brothers, and parents have no say and teachers fear for their jobs so they teach to the script that was designed to program children to think the way those CEOs want them to think?

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  15. If you were the SecEd, what would you do to strengthen or assist parents who home-school their children? I am very supportive of this concept, people who home-school, often do a terrific job, and many home-schooled children gain acceptance at prestigious colleges.

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  16. We can’t get them to appoint you as Secretary of Education, but one of the greatest things that each individual teacher can do is to reject the T administration’s denial of science & attacks on the vulnerable and simply teach truth about immigration, refugees, and the absence of any significant voting fraud. And, of course, the urgent, civilization-threatening threat of global warming & climate change. [See teach-climate.net for some free resources in that area]

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