Gov. Bush, Mayor Bloomberg Seek NCLB "Reforms"

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

<>GOV. BUSH VOWS NATIONAL SCHOOL REFORM
Miami Herald -- December 5, 2006
by Nirvi Shah

After indelibly marking Florida with his own public education legacy, 
Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he will work to make the federal No Child Left 
Behind law look more like the school grading system he created.

Bush and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited a Miramar Elementary 
fourth-grade class on Monday to illustrate their pledge to work together 
toward renewal of the vast federal education law, as well as their 
intention to lobby for changes.

The pair have joined forces, Bush said, because Florida and New York 
City have tried similar innovative educational strategies that have 
reduced the gap in performance between white and minority students, 
although they still have a long way to go. They hope that Florida and 
New York City public schools -- both huge and racially diverse systems 
-- can share education ideas.

''It's called modeling,'' Bush said.

Flanked by Bloomberg, New York City schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and 
Florida Education Commissioner John Winn, Bush said the 5-year-old 
federal law created by his big brother, President George W. Bush, needs 
to take after his A-Plus plan. The law is up for renewal by Congress 
next year.

   ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Jeb Bush said the federal plan has several flaws: It doesn't give 
schools credit for improvement; it allows states to measure students 
using wildly different yardsticks; it is too harsh in grading schools 
''pass'' or ''fail''; and it should tie teacher pay to student performance.

Florida's school accountability system, enacted under Bush, assigns A to 
F grades to schools based in part on whether students improve in reading 
and math scores. In contrast, the federal law does not reward schools 
for improvement, except in a few cases, and schools can fail on the 
weakness of a single demographic student group.

''No matter how much improvement you have, you have to have 
perfection,'' Bush said. ``Rewarding progress is what's lacking in this 
very good bill.''

Earlier this year, as part of a pilot program, Florida was given initial 
approval to count students as having met the federal standard even if 
they have not mastered a subject but simply appear to be headed in that 
direction.

Bush selected Miramar Elementary as the platform to announce his 
post-gubernatorial plans because the school, which is about half black 
and a third Hispanic, has met the federal law's requirements four years 
in a row. And it's graded A by the state -- after earning a D seven 
years ago.

''This school is one of the many schools across the state that has 
shattered the myth that some kids can learn and some kids can't,'' Bush 
said.

Bush spent time Monday in Georgia Gillings' fourth-grade class, where 
students were working on adding ''wow'' words to their FCAT writing essays.

''I don't know. Let's go investigate,'' fourth-grader Ashley Acevedo read.

'Ashley totally ignored the word `look,' '' Gillings said. The 
10-year-old had instinctively replaced it with the word ''investigate.'' 
``Governor, do you like the word `look'?''

''I do, but it's a baby word,'' Bush said on cue.

   LONG-RANGE GOALS

The federal law requires students in all categories -- including race, 
disability and English ability -- to be working on grade level by 2014. 
Until then, each state sets interim goals for how many students must be 
working on grade level to meet the federal standard. States such as 
Florida that set a high bar are, of course, more likely to fail -- and 
face costly penalties that escalate each year. Schools can be required 
to offer tutoring or transportation to different schools and, in extreme 
cases, face a state takeover.

One solution proposed by Bush and Bloomberg is to compare states using 
the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the only exam given in 
all 50 states.

''If our children don't get the education they need, they just won't 
participate the way they should,'' Bloomberg said. ``We will work 
together to make a good law even better.''

And finally, they want teachers to be rewarded based on student 
performance. Florida is offering school districts extra money this year 
for bonuses based on student test scores.

   BIPARTISAN APPEAL?

Bush and Bloomberg, both of whom spoke with reporters in both English 
and Spanish, didn't specify a timeline for their lobbying, but Bush said 
he already has been talking with federal Education Secretary Margaret 
Spellings. The two men, both Republicans, said they believe their 
proposed changes will appeal to Republicans and Democrats.

''Reauthorizing and strengthening [No Child Left Behind] is going to be 
hard work,'' Bloomberg said. ``It will be both of our legacies.''

    http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16165194.htm