Butke: No room and no reason for partisanship in K-12 policy
July 3rd, 2012 at 5:00 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Ted Nesi is off. He’ll return on Friday.
By Maryellen Butke
“Education has to be the one issue that we put politics and ideology aside.”
Famous words spoken by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan during the 2010 elections and certainly words that ring true in Rhode Island today. When I became the executive director of RI-CAN: The Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now, I had just left an eight-year tenure as a school administrator at The Met School in Providence. Known for its progressive approach to learning, The Met is where I first began my work in education. Before that, I was a parent and a professional whose daughter was struggling in her public school. When I walked my daughter into the Paul Cuffee Public Charter School in Providence, my passion for education reform was born.
I have never considered my views on education liberal or conservative. Though a lifelong progressive, it never occurred to me that teaching and learning in public schools was a partisan issue. At its core, education reform is about improving educational outcomes for kids. How could anyone – Democrat or Republican – disagree with that?
As it turns out, education is one of the most politicized debates we are having in this country today. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Those of us who believe in the tenets of change aren’t interested in partisan politics. We believe in accountability for the adults responsible for our children’s futures, in high-quality public school choices for parents regardless of demographics or geography, and in flexibility to let principals and teachers do whatever it takes to improve student achievement. This doesn’t mean we are anti-union and it doesn’t mean we have negative feelings towards teachers. Let me be clear – teachers changed my daughter’s life.
But our current system is not working for all of our children. Across all grades, a little less than half of Rhode Island students aren’t proficient in math – a critical skill for today’s 21st-century economy. In 2005, 52% of the state’s fifth-graders achieved math proficiency on the New England Common Assessment Program. In 2011, only 30% of 11th-graders did. This data shows that as the 2005 cohort of students advanced through school, their performance in math dropped significantly.
Our achievement gaps are unacceptably high, with our black and Latino students scoring between 20 and 30 points lower than their white peers. In 2011, only 9% of black students and 11% of Hispanic students in 11th grade achieved proficiency in math. Only 14% of low-income students were proficient.
As a citizen and a mother, these numbers make me cringe. As a lifelong progressive, they break my heart. Public education is one of the greatest assets we bestow upon our children in this society. It is our civic and moral responsibility to ensure that every child in our state, from all walks of life, receive a world-class education.
I welcome debate on the how. How can we solve this problem? No matter where we sit on the political spectrum, we must be part of the solution. Educating our children and preparing them for the challenges they will surely face in the future is our imperative. It is not a political agenda and it isn’t a Democratic or Republican ideal. It is an American ideal and transforming public education in this country must be our joint agenda.
Maryellen Butke is executive director of the RI-CAN: The Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now. (She is also a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 3.)
Tags: charter schools, education, K-12, maryellen butke, op-eds, other voices, RI-CAN, schools
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
Who funds RI-Can?
Maryellen, it never occurred to you that education was a partisan issue? Ever heard of the Scopes Trial? Brown V. Education? The Moral Majority? Or…Or…Or…
If you are going to be that naive about education in America then perhaps instead of parroting the talking points you unleashed upon Ted’s audience today but say absolutely nothing of RI-CAN’s real agenda, then perhaps your time would be better served using Google to do some research.
Oh, and another thing….the Google told me Walmart funds RI-CAN. How “progressive.”
I agree with a lot of what you say, but the idea that education is a non-partisan issue is utopian at best. Of course, everyone would agree that we should improve educational outcomes for kids, but in a free society there are significant differences of opinion in how this goal may be achieved. Eucation is an activity that involves people and the expediture of resources (money) therefore it is a partisan issue.
[...] interestingly enough, Butke got a chance to respond with a guest post on Ted Nesi’s blog. She wrote: I have never considered my views on education liberal or conservative. Though a [...]
Et tu, Ted?
The most interesting thing about this piece isn’t what the author said but how immediately the teachers in the comments (snow, Mr. Fish and of course their highly paid mouthpiece Crowley) jumped all over her claiming that education is in fact a partisan issue. So are these comments an admission that the NEA and its ilk are nothing more than an arm of the Democratic Party trying to indoctrinate students with their political views? Because whenever a Republican suggests that, they get attacked as “teacher bashing.” Which is it?
Total IMMERSION for all non-english speaking students for one year would allow teachers to concentrate their efforts on the rest of the students in their classes. It may even require a few more teachers ( good news for NEA ). English speaking students and their teachers would then have NO excuse for the poor and minority students dismal performance.
It would even make the Teaching Profession a VOCATION again and not just a job. Just imagine a classroom without the distractions of ELL’S.
It may also help to look at the large number of Hispanic Immigrants that have arrived in Rhode Island since 2005 with their children who would all be in need of English Language Learning classes and some of whom have never been in school a day in their lives in their country of origin.I believe that since 2000 their there has been close to a 40% increase in that number just in Rhode Island.
One thing for sure is our current system is failing almost ALL students. How can any education system claim to be doing it’s job when 70+ % of RI students entering our colleges need some sort of remeadial classes to qualify for entrance. Teachers ALL are aware of these problems. It’s about time they speask up and become part of the much needed solution.
Should all students go to college? Do kids in college need remediation because many of them shouldn’t take the college path?
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/04/does-college-for-all-make-sense/
“The Lie Behind College for All” http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/04/does-college-for-all-make-sense/
Sorry, here’s the new link for ” The Lie Behind College for All” http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/03/the-lie-behind-college-for-all/
Part of the problem in education is that educator’s jobs have turn from educating to raising the children. Parents need to raise the children, teachers need to teach the children. Some think of school as a social program, a more structured day care, and expect the teachers to do more than teach. I understand that it is difficult to not hug a child when they need it, or feed a child when they need it, or explain to a child why mommy and daddy are not together anymore when they are crying in the classroom, this is all the parent’s “job”. I go without to provide for my family when I need to, others look for a handout or a government program. Please let teachers teach and expect more parenting from parents and maybe schools will be more successful.
What I suggest probably wont happen because it is impossible to turn a child away who is upset, hungry or confused because they didn’t do it to themselves.
Wal-Mart helps fund RI-Can? You mean the same Wal-Mart that pays its employees so little that over 60%, of them, are on some form of public assistance? Yes, while they take in hundreds of millions, in profits, we the taxpayers get to subsidize what they should be giving their employees. Fair pay, affordable health care, but won’t.
[...] the above-linked article, the preceding article about Senator Perry’s retirement, and especially Ms. Butke’s post to Mr. Nesi’s blog), but here is the key quote: My feeling is that Regunberg, Crowley and Bukte somehow need to [...]
[...] 11. Thank you to the four writers who contributed guest posts while I was away these last two weeks: Jason Becker, Andrew Morse, Sam Howard and Maryellen Butke. [...]