What’s Ahead in Education? An Analysis of the Policies of the Obama Administration William Hayes ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD EDUCATION A division of ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd ii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.rowmaneducation.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2010 by William Hayes All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hayes, William, 1938– What’s ahead in education? : an analysis of the policies of the Obama administration / William Hayes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60709-679-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-680-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-681-8 (electronic) 1. Education and state—United States. 2. United States—Politics and government—2009– 3. Obama, Barack. I. Title. LC89.H395 2010 379.73'0905—dc22 2010024674 (cid:2) ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd iiii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM Contents Foreword v Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix Part I The Preparation of an Educational Leader 1 The Education of a Future President 3 2 The Chicago Years 15 3 The United States Senator 31 4 The Presidential Campaign 39 Part II The Record Thus Far 5 The Appointment of Arne Duncan 47 6 The Economic Stimulus Package and Race to the Top 57 7 Charter Schools 69 8 Pay for Performance or Merit Pay for Teachers 79 9 Early Childhood Education 91 iii 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd iiiiii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM iv Contents 10 The National Standards Movement 101 11 The Initiatives in Higher Education and Teacher Education 113 12 Mayoral Control of Schools in Urban Districts 125 13 More Time in School 133 14 No Child Left Behind 141 Part III The Future 15 The Agenda 159 Index 169 About the Author 173 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd iivv 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM Foreword The president of the United States has often been described as the most pow- erful person in the world. This important individual has four or eight years to set policy and chart the course in a host of areas for the strongest nation, the most stable democracy on earth. A president’s past experience invariably shapes thoughts and attitudes on all of the issues that must be confronted during that administration. This is especially true of education, because every president has received some brand of American education. Thinking about education has been important to Americans for decades. Educational policy has been on the front burner for most presidential administrations since the end of the Second World War. My introduction to this phenomenon was in 1985, when I was beginning a second doctoral degree as a relatively young academic administrator. I had a discipline-specific doctorate in my teaching field, but after moving into a deanship, I realized I did not have any training in educational theory or praxis. As I began this new doctoral degree program at the University of North Texas, I was confronted with the important report titled A Nation at Risk, completed just two years earlier in the Reagan administration by an eighteen-member panel under the leadership of David Gardner. As I pursued this subject, I found that this was one of a series of educa- tional studies commissioned by several presidents, beginning with the Tru- man Report in 1947 and including a report in 1956 during the Eisenhower administration by the Committee on Education beyond the High School. Perhaps the most famous was the Kennedy administration’s Task Force on Education in 1960. More recently, the Spellings Commission produced A Test v 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd vv 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM vi Foreword of Leadership in 2006, during the George W. Bush administration. The most famous portion of that, of course, is the No Child Left Behind legislation. It will be very interesting to see what President Obama and his adminis- tration will do about education. In this age of globalization, with the rise of world-class universities in many parts of the world that used to be somewhat devoid of education, and with a number of countries pouring great percent- ages of their national resources into all levels of education, there is increasing concern that the United States is lagging. This educational shortfall is only one area of concern for the Obama ad- ministration, but it is a fundamental one, because how our country handles education will spill over into the way we deal with all of the other major problems that we are facing. In this study, Professor Bill Hayes, a veteran administrator in the public sector and now, for more than a decade, a college professor and researcher, examines the influences on President Obama and the problems he and his administration are confronting. History will tell us, years from now, how successful this man will be in charting a good course for our country, but Professor Hayes finds many clues to the future in his careful analysis. Tracing the early years of Mr. Obama’s own education, and then carefully documenting his short Senate career and his promises on the campaign trail, Professor Hayes is able to begin to uncover the philosophy that guides our forty-fourth president. In addition, he carefully analyzes the appointment of Secretary Duncan and the Race to the Top initiative to interpret how those factors will influence the future of our schools. Undoubtedly, this administration will make major changes in the way edu- cation is perceived and performed in America. Professor Hayes’ work helps us set the stage as we watch, in the early days of this administration, what goes on—and as we participate in this important task. John A. Martin, ThD, PhD President, Roberts Wesleyan College 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd vvii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM Acknowledgments There are a number of people to thank for helping in the preparation of this book. First and foremost is Lisa Dietz, a student assistant in the Teacher Edu- cation Division at Roberts Wesleyan College. Along with typing the entire manuscript, she has assisted in the research and the editing. Lisa has been a true partner in this project. Several other colleagues have helped with the preparation of the book. Marty Garland did an excellent job proofreading ev- ery chapter. Linda Jones, our college’s director of reference and bibliographic instruction, provided many of the sources used. With this my fourteenth book for Rowman & Littlefield, I wish to express my thanks to the vice president and editorial director of the education division of Rowman & Littlefield Pub- lishing Group, Dr. Thomas Koerner, for his confidence in me as an author and for his many valuable suggestions for my projects. Tom is a wonderful associate. Finally, as with my previous thirteen books, my wife, Nancy, has proofread every page and has offered helpful suggestions that have improved the final product. I am indebted to all of these individuals for their interest and support in the completion of this project. vii 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd vviiii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd vviiiiii 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM Introduction One certainly cannot predict with precision what any leader will do in regard to a specific policy issue. His or her actions will undoubtedly be affected by the social, economic, and political conditions that are present at the time any initiatives are introduced. In attempting to determine the direction of Barack Obama’s policies in the field of education, what can be done is to study the president’s personal experiences, his written and spoken words on the subject, and his actions in the area prior to becoming our nation’s chief executive. As President Obama assumed office, perhaps his biggest challenge in the field of education was to deal with the reauthorization of the controversial law known as No Child Left Behind. Already several years overdue for reau- thorization, the thousand-plus-page law, which is currently impacting almost all schools in the nation, has generated conflict at every level in our society. Even though it is impossible to quarrel with the goal of the legislation, most educational interest groups have developed proposals for making both major and minor changes in the current law. There are also a number of vocal critics who are more than ready to get rid of the legislation entirely. Because public education has historically been the responsibility of state and local government, there is a lack of agreement in our nation as to what role the federal government should be playing in this area. The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is only one of the potential educational reforms that will be considered during the Obama presidency. During his political career, before becoming president, there were many clear signs as to his views on education. I will attempt to identify the major policy initiatives the president is proposing and examine the arguments surrounding each issue. ix 1100__447711__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd iixx 99//2277//1100 66::1100 AAMM