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Investing in Our
Children
Growing up in Mexico
City, I was blessed
to live with three
strong Latina women:
my grandmother, my
sister, and my
mother, Maria Luisa.
From a young age,
these women taught
me the value of a
good education. I
have carried their
lessons with me
throughout my life.
My education—consisting
of a bachelor’s
degree in
international
affairs and a
master’s degree in
international law
and diplomacy—has
been vital to my
career in public
service. My studies
have been
instrumental to my
success in
negotiating cease-fires
and freeing American
hostages in danger
zones from Iraq to
Darfur, Sudan to
Cuba.
I know that we need
to do a better job
of educating our
children. President
Bush’s signature
education policy, No
Child Left Behind,
has failed. It has
failed our schools,
it has failed our
teachers, and it has
failed our children.
I have a one-point
plan for NCLB: get
rid of it.
The Bush
administration
claims victories,
but upon closer
scrutiny, it becomes
clear that the White
House is simply
dressing up ugly
data with fancy
political spin. Far
from leaving no
child behind,
President Bush seems
to have left reality
behind.
Just look at the
facts: The National
Assessment of
Educational Progress
shows a slight
narrowing of the
racial achievement
gap over the past
three years. This
narrowing, however,
is due to a decline
in overall reading
scores, not to
improvements in
minority student
performance. This is
not progress. |
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Bill
Richardson
is
currently
the
Governor
of New
Mexico.
He has
previously
served
as
Secretary
of
Energy,
U.S.
Ambassador
to the
United
Nations,
and a
member
of
Congress.
He is
seeking
the
Democratic
Party’s
nomination
for the
Presidency. |
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Review the
figures: Our schools are not
failing NCLB; the program is
failing our schools. In some
grades, reading and math scores
actually have declined for
Latinos, African-Americans, and
others. The current pass-fail
rating system is worse than
meaningless—it is counter-productive.
If a school needs assistance, we
should help it, not punish it.
We need to
move beyond the empty rhetoric
of No Child Left Behind. We must
provide our public schools with
what the National Education
Association refers to as the
three R’s—Responsibility,
Respect, and Resources.
The key to
improvement is respect for our
teachers. In New Mexico, I
signed a law that pays teachers
a professional salary. As
President, I will fight for a
national average starting wage
for teachers of at least $40,000
per year.
Teacher
salaries are just the beginning.
Quality pre-kindergarten
programs send children to first
grade ready to learn. These
programs must be made available
to every child. We need strong
academic standards aligned with
the needs of today’s workforce.
America’s
schools were designed for the
20th century—this is no longer
sufficient. Our children need to
graduate ready to engage with
the New Economy, not the old one.
Children
with disabilities should not be
stigmatized by the educational
system. I stand with the
American Federation of Teachers
in support of the principles of
the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act to
give every child the right to an
appropriate education.
I also
believe in the importance of the
arts and music, so I will call
for a massive federal effort to
revive the teaching of these
subjects in our schools. Not
only are these subjects
intrinsically important, but
research shows that they improve
overall achievement, including
in math and science. It is a
mistake to cut back on the fine
arts for any child, but even
more so for those who speak
English as a second language,
live in low-income neighborhoods,
or who otherwise would not be
exposed to these subjects.
We can do
this throughout the country; I
have done it in New Mexico.
Teacher salaries in New Mexico
are now 29th in the nation, up
from 46th before I took office.
I have instituted full-day
kindergarten, and I am working
to bring free pre-K to children
throughout the state.
We have
gotten rid of junk food in
schools and have brought back
mandatory physical education. We
are building more classrooms—classrooms
designed for the 21st century—and
we are insuring that our
education dollars go into those
classrooms, not into
administration and bureaucracy.
True
educational reform requires more
than a set of unfunded mandates
and a list of failing schools.
It requires a vision for success,
the state and federal funding to
match, and the experience to
bring real reform.
Our
mothers teach us the value of a
strong education. Let us honor
them and honor our children by
making a national commitment to
fix our schools and provide a
quality education for every
child.
By Bill
Richardson |
