- In the president’s State of the Union address last night, he doubled down on his misguided call for universal community college, even though it has zero chance of passage in the Republican Congress. That wasn’t so surprising. But it was still disappointing that he missed an opportunity to talk about ESEA—one area of education policy where there could be bipartisan consensus. A good example of governing, rather than playing politics, came this morning from Senate HELP committee chairman Lamar Alexander, who held a thoughtful, respectful, and productive hearing about the testing provisions in No Child Left Behind. Alexander expressed his commitment to a bipartisan process and his intention to earn the president’s signature on an ESEA bill. Now that’s more like it.
- A recent New Yorker article profiled former Florida governor and possible presidential nominee Jeb Bush, with particular focus on his education reforms in the Sunshine State. The piece quotes bipartisan sources who question Bush’s support of for-profit managers of charter schools, along with conservative voices who lament his backing of the Common Core. What it doesn’t mention clearly enough, however, is the fact that Florida saw huge gains in achievement during Jeb's time (particularly among poor and minority kids), and that tons of studies have shown that his policies have worked. To be sure, the lackluster performance and shady self-dealing of some Florida charter schools are worth examining--the Gadfly has some ideas from Ohio for fixing those problems that might do the job nicely. All in all, though, Jeb Bush should be lauded for his contributions to American education. Period.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the numbers of people both taking and passing the GED are down significantly compared to previous years. This drop follows the first major revision of the high school equivalency test in over a decade—changes that, by most accounts, made the assessment much more difficult. The American Council on Education and Pearson teamed up for the revamp and aimed, in part, to test more of the skills necessary to succeed in college. The problem with this, as Fordham patriarch Checker Finn has argued, is that high school graduation exams shouldn't be set at the college-ready level. And neither should the GED. Not everyone who graduates from high school will—or should—go on to college.
