Learning is More Than A Test Score

Each week seems to bring more bad news. For New England, economists this week predicted that our troubles will deepen and the recession will extend through 2010. (See the New England Economic Partnership Fall 2008 Press Release) Connecticut with its high per capita income realizes deeper revenue shortfalls sooner than many other states in a downturn. We have seen these wrenching events in the past and we have gone on to survive and even thrive, but somehow this feels different. There is a sense that we are on an important threshold … that things are happening at a higher altitude and are broader in scope. The global village is in deep trouble and with the 24-7 news cycle we feel every tremor. This week attention seems to have turned to “Main Street”. It is not a pretty picture.

Superintendents, as they prepare their budget proposals, sense that there are no bailouts waiting for them. They have no corporate jets to fly them in to beg for the piece of the pie they deserve to keep their enterprise afloat in the dangerous waters that lie ahead. And perhaps the fiasco of the big three automakers that unfolded on Capitol Hill this week should serve to underscore that there are other institutions that are just as vital – if not even more critical – to the future of our nation than General Motors, AIG, and Lehman Brothers. Certainly education is one of them. And who better to remind Congress of what is happening on the ground than America’s teachers and parents. Before they head off for holidays, why not go online and tell them the story that needs telling about the economic threat ours schools will face all too soon.

I honestly believe that President-Elect Obama gets it and that ultimately education will be high on his administrations strategy for revitalization. The problem is, of course, that he is President-Elect and we are left with a two month vacuum with an almost invisible lame duck administration and a Department of Education on “autopilot” according to Margaret spellings.

So where is the hope in all this? Here is one piece of good news. Linda Darling Hammond has been officially appointed to head the Obama education policy team. There are competing factions vying for influence in the new administration and it is encouraging that they have chosen an educator to lead this stage of the effort. There is an online petition to encourage her consideration as the next Secretary of Education which has nearly 3000 signatures. You can also share your views with the transition team directly at www.change.gov.

Your voice is only a few clicks away.