Ratliff deserves a salute on schools;
however ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 29, 2007

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jim Windham , Special to the Star-Telegram

Fort Worth, TX – Former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff has been stumping the state with some provocative recommendations on the future of the Texas public education accountability system, and he is certainly qualified to do so.

He deserves tremendous credit for his leadership of the most sweeping transformation of the Texas Education Code since World War II, a step that propelled Texas to national leadership in standards- and accountability-based public education reform.

However, based on the written commentary and reports I have read on the thrust of his message, I have two significant concerns.

First, there is no doubt that we have made tremendous progress since the implementation of the reforms he legislated, for which we should be very proud. A lot of people, particularly our educators, deserve enormous credit for it. But I take issue with a point he frequently makes -- that "the atmosphere regarding public schools has become one that is damaging to the morale of teachers and educators."

Many of us believe that, for all of our progress and all of the commendable work that has been done, the easier phases of the transformation of our education system are behind us and the more difficult phases of systemic reform lie ahead if we are to reach the level of student achievement that will allow our children to be successful in a much more competitive world.

If this candid assessment is demoralizing, it is not our intention. But we are not yet asking enough of our children or our educators, and our expectations are not commensurate with our capabilities. Nor are we being nearly candid enough with the public about the challenges we face in developing the schools we need.

If the truth hurts, we need to get over it and get on with the remedy. Reform is never over, and rather than slow the pace of it at this point, we must accelerate it.

Second, most of the serious reformers with whom I work agree with Ratliff that, for many of the reasons he has outlined, the current Texas accountability system needs a complete overhaul, and my organization is working with others to accomplish this outcome.

However, there is a problem with his proposal that the Legislature completely sunset the entire accountability system, which is twofold. One concern is tactical, in that a sunset provision would put Texas in a state of uncertainty and policy turmoil during a period of up to two years, during which nothing definitive is in the offing for reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. The other part of the problem is more strategic and philosophical: What should accountability be about?

If I understand Ratliff's reported comments accurately, he wants a system that essentially provides diagnostic tools along with public reporting requirements, without the "high-stakes" consequences of testing.

But accountability without high-stakes outcomes is not accountability at all -- particularly in an essentially monopolistic delivery system without comprehensive school choice.

Ratliff has made other points about the problems of micromanagement by the state and the virtues of local control that are well-taken. But however much we believe in the principle of local control, it cannot be allowed to be "lowest-common-denominator control," without rigorous state standards and accountability for results.

On at least one point we agree completely: We don't have all the answers, and we need a joint select committee or similar group to study and make recommendations for an overhaul of the system as soon as possible.

Jim Windham is president of the Texas Institute for Education Reform.

www.texaseducationreform.org