Editorial: A Holiday Gift for Education

The unusual bipartisan agreement that led to President Barack Obama’s signing of the new education law reflects the generalized concern over a system that fails to fulfill educational expectations. It also shows the collective dissatisfaction with the demands posed by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which are hard to meet when there are not enough resources.

Obama called the law “an early Christmas gift” due to the timing of the consensus reached by a Congress otherwise paralyzed by animosity and ideological divisions. The President is right. In order to get this kind of support from the Legislature, the 1,061-page law had to contain something for everyone in the education spectrum, from unions to philanthropists, from those who defend private instruction to supporters of public education.

One of the most attractive points in the law – although also controversial -, is the reduction of the federal government’s influence in education to increase the state’s. In general, it is good when school policy is designed closer to the classroom, but the federal government is the one who can guarantee that minorities will be protected.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) leaves the decision to design standards, evaluations, teacher development and the performance improvement of minority and impoverished students to state governments. Historically, some states have misused these funds against Latinos and African-Americans, and they will surely do so again.

We are also concerned that the law will bring down the quality of teachers, who are essential to education. The new measure allows teachers to be trained at newly-established “private preparation academies” by instructors who do not hold advanced degrees, permits student-teachers to work as regular teachers while they study, and equates the completion of the preparation program to a Master’s degree from a qualified school. This is a formula to having poorly-trained teachers working at schools with low-income populations.

The new law has several advantages as well. It promotes pre-school education and sets ambitious goals for student improvement. Everything will depend on its implementation. Parents who care will need to oversee the work of state and school authorities to ensure that students will learn.