For the past three decades, the state of our educational system has seen nothing but consistent decay. In math, science, literature, language, history, and every other subject, the educational standards to which we hold our children are lower than the standards to which their parents were held. We are supposed to be a nation of progress, and yet our children suffer in an educational system which continues to backslide out of control.

This is not the way it is supposed to be.

So we have a problem. What’s the solution?

Well, if our standards have declined, then it’s time to draw a line in the sand. In fact, we need to do better than that: We need a set of standards that says we can do better. We need to challenge ourselves. We need to challenge our teachers. And, most importantly, we need to challenge our students.

You may think we already have a set of standards: The state’s Profiles of Learning. But the truth is, they aren’t doing the job. There are two important areas where they fail:

Nature of the Standard. The state’s standards are vague, emphasizing methods of learning over the content of what is learned. Setting those standards as a minimum would result in students dotting i’s and crossing t’s… instead of knowing what the i’s and t’s actually mean.

What I’m proposing, on the other hand, is a knowledge-based standard. A standard which sets out what students need to know, and which can be used in an objective manner to determine whether or not students have learned what they need to learn.

Application of the Standard. The other problem with the state’s standards is that they are applied at the end of a student’s career, instead of being used as an integral part of the educational process. The Basic Skills Tests are given in 8^th grade, and are then given again and again – while the student continues to advance in school – until they are passed… at which point the student is allowed to graduate.

This is not an effective way of solving the problems our schools have. We have to address these issues earlier – and that means detecting problems before they become insoluble. Furthermore, we can no longer ignore problems in the hope that they will disappear of their own accord.

What does this mean? It means we begin assessing the progress of students at every grade level. And, furthermore, it means that we actually take action – on an individual basis – as a result of those assessments.

In the system as it exists today, we already conduct aptitude tests – but we ignore the results. Applying a standard means making those aptitude tests mean something. It means applying a minimum standard of knowledge for advancement.

Why is this important? Because the first time you push someone beyond their capabilities, it’s over. You’ve doomed them to failure. If you take someone who cannot read and promote them ruthlessly until they find themselves in a high school setting – still unable to read – you have not done them a favor: You have crippled them for life.

Is testing going to solve our problems? No. But setting a standard – and having a willingness to enforce that standard – will. A child who cannot read should not be prevented from graduating; they should be prevented from reaching the second grade. Why? Because the high school setting is not – nor should it be – designed to teach reading and writing: That’s what the first grade is for. And attempts to rectify in high school a problem which should have been corrected ten years earlier compromises the educational quality of the high school experience. If we make sure that the only students who reach second grade are those students who are ready for second grade, then we’re going to have a lot fewer students reach high school who aren’t ready for the experience.

It’s a matter of not letting children slip through the cracks.

Knowledge, not process.

Teachers, not bureaucrats.

Education, not socialization.

Three years ago I ran for the Minneapolis School Board. I believed then, as I believe now, that education is the fundamental bedrock on which a successful democracy is built. And I believed then, as I believe now, that the dire and worsening condition of the American education system is the largest and most troubling threat to this nation’s long-term security and prosperity.

I believe that many of the problems in our educational system today can be traced back to the fact that, by and large, we have no understanding, at a very basic level, of exactly what our schools are attempting to accomplish. And that’s a charge which I direct not only at our community as a whole, but, more importantly, at the school system itself.

The problem is that our educational goals — our standards — are often left unspoken. And because they are unspoken, they are unclear. The result is, inevitably, not only a lowest common denominator, but a lowest common denominator which becomes poorer and poorer with every passing year.

To make matters worse, when attempts are made to set goals for our educational system, the standards which result are usually vague, poor, or both. For example, when I was attending public school in Minneapolis (I graduated in 1998), students were required to pass a Basic Skills Test in order to graduate. This test was given in 8th grade and then, if the student failed, given again in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades until the student passed. For all intents and purposes, this Basic Skills Test was the graduation standard for the Minneapolis Public Schools.

And what did the Basic Skills Test require? Basic reading skills. Arithmetic, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and basic geometry.

In practice, the school district waited until we were in 8th grade to test whether or not we had skills which should have been learned in 3rd. If we didn’t have those skills, we were simply promoted into 9th grade and given the test again.

It shouldn’t take too much effort to understand the fundamental problems with this system. And it shouldn’t come as any particular surprise to learn that, in 1996, only 50% of 8th grade students managed to pass these tests.

But here’s the scary part: The Minneapolis Public Schools consistently test in the top 10% of the school districts in Minnesota. And Minnesota is routinely ranked somewhere in the Top 5 states for education. So when we talk about the problems of the Minneapolis Public Schools, we’re talking about the problems of the top 10% of the top 10%.

Things have gotten a little better in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Four out of every five 8th graders are now passing the Basic Skills Tests on their first attempt. This tells us that merely setting goals and then assessing our success at meeting those goals can be an effective way of achieving improvement in our educational system. When clear goals are communicated, those within the system can work towards achieving those goals in a substantive and meaningful fashion.

But I still believe there is a fundamental failure to take meaningful and substantive action to address the educational needs of those who fail the Basic Skills Test. And I am even more concerned by the fact that the Basic Skills Test are, essentially, an expectation of mediocrity.

Over the next few days I’m going to be posting the three position planks I used for my 2002 campaign. I’ll be following that up with a very general outline of what I believe a truly effective educational standard would look like. Then I hope to wrap things up by posting my thoughts on the No Child Left Behind initiative, which has begun to change the landscape of public education.

SCHOOL BOARD GOALS
Goal 1: Setting a Standard
Goal 2: Forming a Foundation
Goal 3: Opportunity and Support

An Outline for a Standard of Education

On the 4th of July this year, I was frustrated in my attempt to attend the fireworks at the Stone Arch Bridge by the failure of my girlfriend’s alarm; the questionable quality of my car; and the first symptoms of a rather virulent flu. Stranded at home, I was nevertheless in a patriotic mood, so I grabbed my copy of 1776 and stuck it in the machine.

I really love that musical. I’ve loved it ever since I first listened to it in the 8th grade. I have since come to understand that the delegates of the Second Continental Congress did not, in fact, spontaneously break into song, but it still stands as a stirring testament to the strength, principles, and sheer intelligence of those extraordinary men who we have come to call the Founding Fathers. It also reminds us that the United States of America was not a nation whose fate was assured: Its existence and its character, as defined now in the twin pillars of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, rested upon the thinnest reeds of chance, and were forced into being only through the determination and ability of truly remarkable men. In my opinion, it is this generation, and this generation alone, which can truly be described as the Greatest Generation. They not only gave birth to a nation, they possessed a singular vision which shone a beacon upon the world.

Shortly after discovering 1776 on my own, I was introduced by my U.S. History teacher to Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1776, a book by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. If I loved 1776, then I was enraptured with Decision in Philadelphia. This phenomenal volume takes up the Constitutional Convention of 1776 — the birthplace of our nation — and presents it with page-turning intensity.

It would be trite to say that it makes the material accessible, because that would understate the authors’ real ability to present the complex political issues of the Convention as a compelling drama without losing any of the depth and detail which make this book a true jewel. Without any pretense or conceit, they place you right onto the Convention floor and insinuate you into backroom bargains — allowing you to watch, first-hand, as the greatest assembly of political philosophers (in that or any age) create the greatest government the world has ever known.

In a very real sense, this book represents the birthplace of my political beliefs. Of course, in many ways, it did so at a remove: In reality, its the political philosophy of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, Roger Sherman, and George Mason that captured my attention (and later led me to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, among others). But the Colliers are so cogent and clear in their presentation that the book serves not only as a brilliant piece of history, but as a valuable political primer.

If you truly want to understand the American government – the manner of its conception; the theory of its function; the brilliant compromises which give it endurance — then I strongly encourage you to hunt down a copy of Decision in Philadelphia. You won’t regret it.