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From Kindergarten to
College
Education in America
With Rod Paige
Secretary of Education
Friday, Aug. 31, 2001; 10 a.m. EDT
Education Secretary Rod Paige has just returned from a cross-country "Back to School, Moving Forward" tour. The tour's aim was to highlight President Bush's desire for local control of education, expanded parental choice and increased school accountability.
Paige will be online to take your questions and comments on the state of American schools, the administration's policy towards education and his career.
The transcript follows.
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over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
washingtonpost.com:
Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us Live Online this morning. To start us off, can you give our readers a quick summary of the Bush administration's education policy and the No Child Left Behind program?
Rod Paige: The president wants to change the culture in American education and he has proposed a plan called No Child Left Behind. The Senate and House by large bi-partisan majorities passed their version of the plan and we are waiting now for the conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two versions. Both bills contain the fundamental four pillars of the president's plan -- accountability for results, flexibility and local control, expanded parental options and doing what works based on sound science. We are promoting the plan across the nation and working with the conference committee to produce a final bill.
Lincoln, Neb.:
If the president is in favor of local control for schools, why should the federal government mandate testing?
Rod Paige: Well, the president is supportive of local control and flexibility however he does share a responsibility to spend the public's money wisely. We are asking to know the results of the expenditures. By the way, this isn't a new concept. Testing is required in the present bill, the president simply expanded it to grades three to eight. The most eloquent spokesman for testing and assessment was Senator Kennedy in 1965, when the ESEA bill was first introduced, and he supported it then for the exact same reason that Bush is supporting it now. Finally we must answer the question "are the students learning?". We won't know that unless they are tested.
President Bush's goal involves educating every child -- this is unique. In order to educate every child we must have current knowledge about how each child is progressing. In order to know how each child is progressing we must test each child.
Ithaca, N.Y.:
How do the administration's proposed policies address home schooling families?
Rod Paige: Under the administration's support of expanded parental options, which is the third pillar of the president's plan, we want to give parents options to find the best education venue for their child. Home schooling is one choice.
We are very supportive of parental choice.
Philadelphia, Pa.:
The president has mentioned on several occasions that he is in favor of phonics as a valuable learning tool. Do you agree? And what statistics show that phonics really makes an improvement in reading comprehension?
Rod Paige: The president is in favor of doing what works based on science, which is the fourth pillar of the president's plan - using scientific and research based principles. There has been great research using phonics and phonetic awareness being a major part of effective reading instruction. The National Institutes for Health, The University of Oregon and Peabody College in Nashville are some sources in I would direct the reader that supports phonics and phonetic instruction, especially in the early years. But phonics is not, in and of itself, the whole answer.
Cambridge, Mass.:
What is your personal view on whether school vouchers will help inner-city kids vs. weakening public schools? What will you do on that front in the Education Department?
Rod Paige: I rarely use the term vouchers because it has been so trashed by current writers and thinkers, so I have to use another term to communicate my ideas.
I do not accept the charge that students attending private schools at public expense adversely impacts the public school system. As a seven-year urban superintendent for one of the nations largest public school systems, I am a passionate advocate and supporter of public education. My experience in Houston where we contracted some students out to private vendors and private schools in fact strengthened the public school system. Research sponsored by the Department of Education shows that public schools are strengthened when charter schools are in the vicinity. Competition has shown us in other organizational areas to be positive not negative.
Secondly, the idea of public education is a concept not a structure. The whole idea is to provide an appropriate education for students at public expense. This allows for and I think requires multiple delivery systems of education for students. I believe public schools properly resourced and operated can perform as well as any private schools, indeed my goal in Houston was to outperform private schools. Public schools should have no fear of competition from private schools because when they are their best they can be the best.
washingtonpost.com:
Secretary Paige, Tuesday Congress will be back in session and, coincidentally, most kids across the country will be going back to school. What's the biggest issue the administration, and Congress, need to tackle immediately to ensure an improved school year for these kids?
Rod Paige: I think the most significant thing that can happen to improve schools would be to finish the No Child Left Behind bill that the president has proposed. The plan that the president has proposed is contained in both S1, the Senate bill, and HR1 the House bill, and is currently in conference committee. The best thing that can happen is if the conference committee finishes the No Child Left Behind Bill and puts it on the president's desk. This implies that we hope that the final bill is true to the president's plan. This also implies that we don't want simply the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but a fundamental change that can be brought about.
That is the greatest and most positive thing that can happen.
The second best thing that can happen is for the Senate and the House, Republicans and Democrats, to continue the bipartisan support for education change in America.
Largo, Md.:
Secretary Paige, thank you for making yourself available to the public. I am wondering what approach U.S. Department of Education will take to recruit more teachers. Many people are not interested in pursuing careers in education because of low salaries and a decline in respect given to teachers.
Rod Paige: Excellent question. In the president's plan and budget there is great support for recruiting and retaining new and exciting teachers. The president has proposed $2.6 billion to assist schools and districts to recruit, train and retain teachers -- whatever it takes to improve teacher quality. Going back to the second pillar, local control and flexibility, the president is proposing these dollars to be used by the districts, schools and states in a way that they see will best fit their unique needs. This is true to the president's flexibility and local control idea because the first pillar, accountability for results, is part of the plan. We simply want to supply the resources, and then come back later and ask for the results.
In creating the Department of Education congress made clear its intent that the Secretary of Education and other department officials be prohibited from the "direction, supervision, or control over curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any education institution, or school system." States, localities and private institutions, not the Department of Education, control school policies including such matters as the length of the school days or year, textbook selection, teacher certification, school accreditation, high school graduation requirements, grading scales and other instructional administration policies.
I make this point to emphasize the fact that we intend to support, resource, assist and be partners with these institutions -- but not direct them. We depend on them, under the president's proposal of local control and flexibility toward creativity, innovation and other initiatives, to improve schools and their communities.
Rod Paige: I would like to end by simply saying that we are interested in promoting accountability for results, flexibility and local control, expanding parental options, and doing what works using research and science for strategies and initiatives.
Thanks a lot for the questions. I appreciate it.
washingtonpost.com:
That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
Stay tuned to Live Online:
Superintendent of St. Mary's schools at 11:30 a.m. EDT
Advice: Carolyn Hax at Noon EDT
Speaking Freely with Bob Levey at 1 p.m. EDT
Political Insider with Charles Babington at 1 p.m. EDT
Meet the Comics: Bill Holbrook "On the Fastrack" at 1 p.m. EDT
"Angry Little Asian Girl" cartoonist Lela Lee at 2 p.m. EDT
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