politics@theEAGLE

The Top 4 Education Challenges Obama Faces in ‘09

Tony — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:28:45 +0000

politics@theEAGLE is back! Although the Honors capstone that inspired this site finished in December, the blog is here to stay! This semester, we’re going to focus on the Obama administration’s efforts to reform higher education, chronicling the new president’s proposals, successes and shortfalls during his first 100 days and beyond. So, as usual… check back often!

In the meantime, here’s part two of a three part series I published earlier this week at UPI’s Voice of Young Voters, a student-run, presidential transition blog. Please bookmark that Web site as well!

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BY: TONY ROMM

As I mentioned last week, the education community presents President-elect Barack Obama with no shortage of political and economic challenges, especially insofar as college affordability and public school financing are concerned. That said, here’s part two of my three-part series on the four most dire education problems Obama faces in 2009:

2. Bettering the nation’s struggling public schools. Arriving this Tuesday was Education Week’s Quality Counts 2009 study, an annual collection of report cards that track state developments in public education. The survey, as imagined, was incredibly dense and detailed, the full results of which are available on Ed Week’s Web site, but one grade perhaps best summarized the current condition of the nation’s school districts: a national mark of “C” in the “Chance for Success” index, which Ed Week defined as a “perspective on the role that education plays as a person moves from childhood, through the formal K-12 school system, and into the workforce.”

The challenge: Facilitating academic progress (while holding the right group of people accountable for school performance). It is usually at this point in the discussion that the more hardened reformists among us champion merit-based pay, or some variation thereof, as the solution to public schools’ math, reading and science deficiencies. Proponents, including prospective Education Secretary Arne Duncan, argue that pay schemes tied to progress reward educators for their students’ successes – a system, furthermore, that also encourages teachers to pursue advanced degrees or otherwise improve their skill sets to better the classroom.

A host of states since 2005 have introduced merit-based pay systems, each with important (though often disappointing) results. Of note is one such attempt in Florida: In 2006, Gov. Jeb Bush allowed school districts to configure their own merit pay schemes, provided at least 60 percent of their “progress” formulas included standardized test results.

Unfortunately, it seemed wholly unsurprising months later when the St. Petersburg Times uncovered that public school teachers, some of whom had long endured substantial classroom adversities, were beginning to desert Florida’s neediest public schools. According to the newspaper, the inherent disparities in the state’s ad hoc “progress” formulas were partly to blame; in the Hillsborough district, for example, a disproportionate number of merit pay bonuses were awarded to teachers at its more affluent (and better-scoring) institutions, which possessed the greatest capabilities to meet the district’s self-determined benchmarks. Lawmakers were thus forced to reconsider their coveted merit-based pay regulation, which is still the subject of much dispute.

If anything, Florida’s mistakes alone demonstrate why President-elect Obama must balance his efforts to hold schools more accountable with the structural inequalities that have historically complicated education reforms. Insufficient attention to the economic detriments of merit pay – the chilling effect it has on employment and low-income districts – could further harm struggling primary and secondary schools, perhaps in a way not too unlike the early consequences wrought by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Nor can Obama forget who, exactly, his reforms are supposed to benefit. Although assisting underpaid teachers is an obvious political priority, it’s quite haphazard to implement a program that’s structurally tailored to improve students’ performance without first determining whether merit-based pay actually helps students. Chicago, serendipitously, is an excellent example of this tautology: Although Duncan – then the Chicago schools’ chief – mailed out nearly $340,000 in bonuses to nine schools that demonstrated notable improvement (a five point test score increase), the state has yet to accumulate any data proving that merit-based pay (based on test scores) affected any of the factors that, for example, Ed Week analyzes ad nauseum.

Hence the real challenge in improving public schools: Reform efforts that substitute accountability for measurable achievement threaten to exacerbate public school districts’ present plethora of ills. Put more broadly, Obama must determine how to fix what’s currently broken before he charges someone with the responsibility to fix it — even if it is clear, to his supporters at least, who that “someone” should be.

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The final installment of this series, to come later this week @ the UPI Web site, examines America’s international competitiveness.

Missed last night’s Forum? Watch it (C-SPAN) or listen to it (WAMU) online!

Tony — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:18:14 +0000

Thanks to everyone who supported politics@theEAGLE and attended last night’s American Forum.

If you missed it, here’s the audio link (courtesy of WAMU/SOC)

…and here’s the video link (courtesy of C-SPAN)

Additionally, there will be a special airing of the American Forum today at 11 am on WAMU’s HD Channel 3.

politics@theEAGLE on NPR, C-Span!

Tony — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:19:56 +0000

While politics@theEAGLE prepares to re-launch (we’re transitioning, just like President-elect Obama), we have two announcements:

1. Our podcast continues — This week, The Eagle’s staff discusses voter turnout and Obama’s first 100 days in office

2. politics@theEAGLE makes its radio and television debut during the American Forum, a discussion moderated by NPR station WAMU and hosted by American University. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the program itself begins at 7 p.m. It’ll be available live on WAMU (WAMU.org) and C-SPAN (check local listings).

Concluding our night’s coverage

Tony — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:31:52 +0000

Thanks to everyone who checked out the blog and visited The Eagle’s main Web site; your feedback has made this live blogging process as historic for us as the election has been for the candidates. We’ll resume coverage tomorrow — offering our final takes on the final electoral count — but, for tonight, we’ll end with this: a link to the candidates’ final speeches (McCain’s concession speech, Obama’s victory speech).

From the Tavern: Reflections on a beautiful moment

Charlie Szold — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:03:36 +0000

politics@theEAGLE

Electoral Vote Counter

As reported by MSNBC
Obama	McCain
338	156

BY: CHARLIE SZOLD

Claus Kleber has been on his feet all night. If anything, the esteemed German news anchor at least has endurance. We, the American bloggers, have been more or les shuttled off into a corner. Sam Hagerdon, my co-blogger, is wracking his brain to figure whether or not Obama could pick up Indiana too. I’m just sitting here — a bit shell-shocked. I have some serious egg on my face. I really thought that the American people would tack right once they entered the voting booth.

They didn’t. And now, Barack Obama is the president-elect of the United States of America.

I call myself a conservative, but this moment is a beautiful moment. This moment means so much to so many people that it is impossible to be sad. The Germans are on their feet chanting and yelling. They are as excited as the AU students. I can’t stop smiling, people can’t stop yelling… is it weird that I want to cry a little? How could you not?

This is America; this is what we do. For eight years the American people slowly became more and more alienated from their government and tonight, the healing can begin. We can, at a moment like this, be hopeful. Let the politics come later — this isn’t the time to talk about them. This is a time to be excited that so many other people are excited. Congratulations to the United States.

Obama projected president-elect

Tony — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:06:16 +0000

politics@theEAGLE

Electoral Vote Counter

As reported by MSNBC
Obama	McCain
284	145

BY: TONY ROMM

MSNBC, among other networks, projected at 11 p.m. that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will be the 44th President of the United States.

From the Tavern: AU Republicans react

Katie Litvin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:57:58 +0000

politics@theEAGLE

Electoral Vote Counter

As reported by MSNBC
Obama	McCain
207	142

AU Republicans are the minority in tonight’s Tavern crowd.

Some Republicans are still watching the election results in MGC, despite overwhelming cheers for Sen. Barack Obama. One of these supporters is wearing a McCain sticker in the middle of his forehead.

“I’m a little bummed out right now,” said sophomore Grant Lloyd, a student in the School of International Service. “I expected Obama to win, but not this badly.”

Lloyd said, at the end of the day, his life would not change much no matter who wins the presidential election.

“I don’t expect my life to change drastically,” Lloyd said. “After next January, I’ll still be an AU student.”

He said he chose to prominently display his McCain sticker mostly as a joke.

“It’s all in good fun,” Lloyd said. “People have asked to take pictures with me and some of the Republicans around have thanked me.”

Another AU Republican said he was pleasantly surprised that MSNBC wasn’t on the main television projector.

Junior Steve Dalton also remarked that the turnout at the Tavern was clearly more supportive of Obama.

“I’m cautiously optimistic, but right now it’s not looking too good,” said Dalton, a student in the School of Public Affairs

Analysis: Virginia call depends on Fairfax

Sam Hagedorn — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:31:05 +0000

BY: SAM HAGEDORN

The Presidential race in Virginia is close. With 2.5 million votes counted, Barack Obama is separated from John McCain by less than 13,000 votes. However, the results from Northern Virginia should give Obama the win.

Many residents of Fairfax county commute to work in the District of Columbia. These residents, mocked by a McCain campaign as not being part of “real Virginia,” tend to vote more Democratically than the rest of the state. Of the precincts in Fairfax county, only a quarter have reported so far. That’s a lot of uncounted votes, which should give Obama at least 50,000 more votes.

But then again, the conventional wisdom might be completely off — John McCain might win some of the suburbs of D.C. But things do not look good for the McCain campaign in Virginia.

From the Tavern: No more New England Republicans

Charlie Szold — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:23:19 +0000

politics@theEAGLE

Electoral Vote Counter

As reported by MSNBC
Obama	McCain
207	135

BY: CHARLIE SZOLD

In any radical political revolution, there is bound to be some collateral damage. Congressman Chris Shays, a moderate Republican from Connecticut, is out of a job tonight as he concedes the race to Democrat Jim Himes. Shays was, until tonight, the only remaining Republican congressman from New England.

If this pattern is being replicated across the country, and moderate Republicans are being booted out by knee-jerk voters, then both parties will suffer. The Republicans will lose moderate members of the party that could help rebuild the party, and the Democrats run the risk of overreaching and overheating as did the GOP over the last eight years.

From the Tavern: Students making news

Katie Litvin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:05:23 +0000

politics@theEAGLE

Electoral Vote Counter

As reported by MSNBC
Obama	McCain
207	129

BY: KATIE LITVIN

Are students just watching the news, or are they making it? AU students in the Tavern can choose from five different news stations to get their election results. But students are not only observers of the election—they are also commentators, thanks to a number of on-campus organizations recording students’ reactions.

Several members of the AU Student Government’s recently-created Photography Club are documenting the election result reactions. The photographs may be used in any future AUSG publication, said club member Chris Crosbie, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“We were told to get reactions when they announce the new president,” Crosbie said. “I’ve been trying to get photos when they call states.”

ATV, the campus’s television channel, is also present at the Election Extravaganza. One ATV videographer is asking people which presidential candidate they support.

“I’m really just trying to gauge student reactions,” said freshman Mike Conte, a student in the School of Public Affairs.

Other AU students are just documenting the event for fun.

“I’m going to post the pictures on Facebook, so all my friends at other schools can see how people here actually care about the election,” said sophomore Andrew Frank, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. “So far I have some pictures of the masses of people. But I’ve been trying to take pictures when they call states.”