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The Legacy of Rod Paige |
 November 19, 2004
- How will education change over the next four years?
That is the question on many minds upon hearing that Rod Paige will be
stepping down from his position as the Secretary of Education during
President Bush’s next term in office. Education Secretary Rod Paige was
largely responsible for the No Child Left Behind Act; the result of which is
more accountability and higher standards in public education.
However, there is a larger, much more enduring legacy which he leaves to us;
the propulsion of the School Choice movement to the forefront of a much
broader base of people and into the mainstream population. In and of itself,
the idea of more school choice is enough reason to support NCLB. However, it
must be remembered that the most important justification for NCLB is that it
is now unacceptable for public educators to employ bigotry in the form of
low expectations. School practices that threaten to leave children out of
the education process must be addressed or parents are justified in pulling
their kids out of their current educational setting and must be provided
another environment –one better suited to their needs.
The idea of NCLB is simple enough, but many unforeseen complications have
been the result. In some cases there aren’t enough schools meeting the
minimal expectations for a public education, therefore there is nowhere to
transfer if a school fails. In other instances, a family doesn’t want to
pull a child from a neighborhood school. Finally, the NEA Teachers’ Union
has launched a massive disinformation campaign blaming the schools’ failure
to provide an adequate
education on lack of federal funding, claiming that
the mandate didn’t have enough dollars to fly. Defending NCLB from those
charges alone has been a full time job for the Department of Education.
Because parents understand that they should be allowed all possible options
when it comes to educating our most precious resource – our children, many
have begun to look outside of public institutions to be assured of the
highest quality education offered today.
The public education system has some options in the form of Magnet and
Charter schools, however these options depend on money earmarked for
neighborhood schools and that has caused fighting over the beneficiary of
the public purse.
It is my hope that the incoming Secretary of Education will continue to
expand school choice options by embracing Universal Tuition Tax Credits.
These tax refunds would help cover the cost of an independent education when
public education is not the best option for our children. Economically
disadvantaged children deserve the opportunity for a good education should
they choose to take advantage of all the choices being offered. Parents
should not have to pay twice for their children’s education.
By expanding school choice to include independent schools, market forces
will push all educational institutions to embrace best teaching practice and
compete for all eligible students. Schools will have to provide the best
value for the dollar.
Education should not be taken for granted. The "educrats” lost sight of the
mission . Rod Paige and NCLB set the public schools back on course. This is
his legacy , and it is a good one.
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