It should be clear by now to even the most casual political observer that the Obama administration doesn't play "small ball." From the massive $787 billion economic recovery package to the restructuring of the American auto industry and his ambitious goal to revamp the country's health care system, President Obama has eschewed incremental change in favor of wholesale transformation. So, too, is this the case with the president's education reform agenda.
The nearly $100 billion for K–12 education included in the stimulus plan is by far the largest one-time investment in the American education system. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has made it clear that he expects real gains in student achievement with this infusion of resources, going well beyond the original and primary purpose of the stimulus to fill state budget shortfalls and prevent teacher layoffs. Indeed, Duncan's description of the education stimulus as "historic" and "momentous" could just as easily apply to his sense of urgency, opportunity, and obvious moral responsibility to dramatically improve the education of students.
These basic reforms have already been clearly established as Duncan's core principles for the use of stimulus funds: (1) enhancing standards and assessments; (2) establishing robust state data systems; (3) turning around low-performing schools; and (4) enhancing teacher effectiveness. Book-ending these K–12 reforms among the department's priorities are an expansion of access to high-quality early childhood programs and college affordability.
On first blush, the reform agenda is thoughtful and comprehensive, extending from preK to postsecondary levels. It even echoes the support in ASCD's Legislative Agenda for "ongoing educational redesign to meet the lifelong learning needs of today's students" in a seamless, integrated 21st century educational system.
Duncan has issued a challenge to the 5,000 lowest-performing schools in the country—especially the so-called "dropout factories"—to increase student achievement. Duncan's expectations are clearly for bold action at the state and local levels and go well beyond the facile solution of converting low-performing schools into charter schools.
Similarly, the impending mass retirement of baby boomer educators gives Duncan the opportunity to redesign the teaching force for the next 25 years. The administration is thinking strategically about when President Obama should issue a call for the best and the brightest to serve in our nation's classrooms. Moreover, work has already begun on gathering the data and best practices for measuring teacher effectiveness to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise to develop a national teacher certification test.
The traditional federal funding system is undergoing a subtle but significant shift. Both the stimulus and FY10 budget plan have deemphasized the standard-formula grant programs in favor of more competitive awards designed to incentivize reform and spur innovation. Duncan's $5 billion Race to the Top fund includes controls to prevent the misuse of stimulus resources and serves as an incubator for promoting promising practices. Additionally, Title I basic grants were cut by $1.5 billion, and the competitively awarded Teacher Incentive Fund will see one of the largest increases by dollar ($390 million) or percentage (400 percent) of any education program in the administration's FY10 budget.
Each of these initiatives would be a worthy accomplishment of an energetic educational leader. Taken together, they are an early signal of the Obama administration's profound ambition to remake the federal role in American education, reshape the teaching profession, and revolutionize school improvement strategies. It is an audacious reform agenda. Whether fortune will favor such boldness remains to be seen.
For more information about stimulus funding, read ASCD's report, Planning the Possible, at www.ascd.org/ARRAresources.