Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP and current KIPP superintendent in Houston, gives Obama a few words of advice in the Houston Chronicle .
Obama should:
1. ??Open up and simplify alternative education pathways. The human capital shortage is certainly a hindrance to bringing great charter schools to scale--but there are things state and federal legislators can do to help. Steven Wilson explained how in last week's Gadfly .
2. ??Choose a reform minded secretary of education. We couldn't agree more . This secretary needs to motivate and inspire--and choose the right reforms to back up the rhetoric. As usual, Mike was weeks ahead of the competition when he contemplated the right mix of education background, firm grasp of politics, and superlative management skills to fill this key cabinet spot.
3. ??Focus on early childhood education. To my mind, the jury is still out on whether or not we should be scrambling over this one. Despite some anecdotal evidence in support of childhood programs, Checker, amongst others , has been quite critical of universal preschool. Obama endorsed the idea this summer but??(not surprisingly)??we haven't heard much on the topic lately. At this point, let's simply hope Obama checks off points one and two before heading in this direction.
