Randi (Weingarten) turned in a dandy (op-ed) yesterday in the Washington Post making the case for national standards in education:
Imagine the outrage if, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers had to move the ball the full 10 yards for a first down during the Super Bowl while the Arizona Cardinals had to go only seven. Imagine if this scenario were sanctioned by the National Football League. Such a system would be unfair and preposterous.But there is little outrage over the uneven patchwork of academic standards for students in our 50 states and the District of Columbia. And the federal government has tacitly accepted this situation by giving a seal of approval to states that meet the benchmarks for improved achievement established by the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- even if their standards are lower than those of other states (which might not fare as well when measured by NCLB's yardstick).
Weingarten, president of??the American Federation of Teachers,??is joining a chorus that is now swelling with supporters of national standards and tests. Among that chorus are a number of current or former big-city superintendents, such as Joel Klein and Arne "Call me Arne" Duncan, and their membership organization, the Council of Great City Schools.*
So here's an idea: how about we start the move toward national standards and tests with the big cities? With both the supes and the AFT (which represents teachers in most of the behemoth urban districts) on board, you could imagine it working. Congress could allow these districts to either be held accountable to their individual state standards or to a (more rigorous) national standard. States would have to allow these districts to "secede" from their own accountability systems, but with the right incentives, they might agree to do so.
That doesn't mean we should thwart the (slow) process of getting the states to move toward common national standards. But why put all of our eggs in one basket?
*UPDATE: Mike Casserly, the head of the Council of Great City Schools, writes in to say "we've actually been talking inside about doing just this."
