Education is Key To Ending Poverty

Yesterday I talked about how important strong K-12 schools are for getting kids college-ready. But why college ready? Because jobs that pay enough to support a family but don't require a bachelor's degree now demand the same level of preparation that college demands.

Last night during the All-American Presidential Forum at Howard University, presidential candidates were asked about the connection between education and poverty. It was a great question, because we know that Americans living in poverty are much more likely to have dropped out of high school, and that dropouts have far lower earnings over their lifetime.

College - What's the Real Problem?

My wife and I have seven children and 18 grandchildren, so we know the cost of college can do to a family's budget. And I appreciate some of the proposals put forth recently to make it easier for low-income students to have a chance to go to college.

But I have to tell you, I think those proposals overlook a very glaring problem for all college-bound students - They're not ready.

Iowa Is Ready for ED

Our state launch in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday drew a really good turnout - from the news media, bloggers and, of course, a bunch of wonderful lively young students who took a break from summer vacation to join us.

Rather than have me tell you about it, you can watch two 10-minute videos from the event on the ED in 08 YouTube site. (The videos come from IowaPoliticsDotCom. We thank them for being there.)

Finding Dollars to Do Right by Students

I've written a lot about all the benefits for our young students of expanding the amount of time they have for learning in school. (See my May 14, May 15 and June 14 blog posts.) More time and support for learning is one of the priorities of the ED in 08 campaign.

Now, I get asked about who would pay for this extra learning time, and that's a fair question. We're not here to dictate all the answers, but we do have some suggestions. (I always encourage your thoughts on these ideas.)

Make Your Voice Heard - Ask a Question

We have more presidential candidates and more presidential debates going on in 2007 than at any time I can remember. And we are working hard to get the moderators of these debates to ask questions about America's schools and get the candidates to answer them.

Some of these debate questioners and sponsors are inviting people to send in questions. Let me encourage you to do that. I've been submitting questions to whomever and whenever I can.

Iowa-Bound: A Snapshot of Our Schools

We head out to Iowa tomorrow to launch the ED in 08 campaign on the ground there. This will be the third state (after South Carolina and New Hampshire) where we have established a presence.

I don't mean to pick on Iowa, or any other state, but it does illustrate the problems we are trying to shine a light on - which is that we are not doing right by our young students.

According to Iowa's own standards, 79 percent of fourth graders are proficient in math. On the National Assessment of Education Progress test, however, only 37 percent rate as proficient.

Gone to LA; Back on Monday

I'm on my way to Los Angeles to speak to the annual gathering of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. I'll return on Monday.

In the meantime, here are two pieces I saw this week that I thought were pretty interesting.

Salary system luring faculty: Applications are up with DPS's incentive strategy (Denver Post)

Teacher Turnover Costs Systems Millions, Study Projects (Washington Post)

Life for Dropouts in the Real World

Some of my readers might think I sometimes overdo it in this space when I throw out a lot of statistics. I'll accept that judgment and just say I'm trying to build a foundation of credibility for the message that we have a problem with our American schools and we have got to act.

Good Jobs Will Be Waiting. It May Be A Long Wait.

At ED in 08, we are all about creating schools that will prepare America's children for college, for work and for life.


While we are totally focused on the children, we recognize other realities: These children are our future, too. They will pay the taxes to support Social Security, for instance.


And, of course, they will fill the jobs that we want our economy to create. It seems that those jobs require higher skills every day. Just ask any parent.

Grades Are In - American Taxpayers Give Schools a C

Every student in America can sympathize with our schools today. Report cards came out, and while we're not looking at Ds and Fs, the news certainly could have been better.

ETS, the people who do the SAT college entrance examinations, released poll results today that shows that 44 percent of adults in the U.S. gave our schools a "C".

Now, a "C" isn't flunking, but how many parents are satisfied with just average? I speak as a parent myself when I say, that's just not good enough.

Teacher Pay Experiments Can Work ... If Teachers Help Develop

I was struck by a piece in the New York Times today that talks about different ways that school systems are finding to pay teachers more.

A consensus is building across the political spectrum that rewarding teachers with bonuses or raises for improving student achievement, working in lower income schools or teaching subjects that are hard to staff can energize veteran teachers and attract bright rookies to the profession.

USA Today: ‘States Game the System'

An editorial in today's USA Today talks about how states have adopted easy achievement tests to make themselves look good for the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

When students in most states take the national achievement test, they don't look nearly as good.

Do longer hours equal more learning?

The Christian Science Monitor asked that question in a headline today.

I won't tease you. The answer is 'Yes' - provided you plan right and get buy-in from parents, teachers and the community. (It's true some students don't like it, but an awful lot do.)

This experiment involving 10 schools in Massachusetts has specific lessons for every school district trying to help our young students prepare themselves for college, for work and for life.

Two Clippings Worth Reading

We read a lot over here at ED in 08 about efforts local school districts and states are trying out to solve some of the problems with schools.

From time to time, I plan to point them out to you and see what you think. Drop me a line or leave a comment below.

‘Fixing D.C. Schools' ... And All the Rest, Too

The new mayor of Washington, DC, is in the process of taking control of the public schools in the nation's capital. That seems to have inspired The Washington Post to launch an ambitious series of stories on "Fixing D.C.'s Schools."

The Post is looking at the challenges that the DC school system faces, the history of reform in the system and reform s that have worked in other urban school districts. An interactive map lets you compare schools in the system based on a number of criteria.

Two Takes on Testing - Is There A Third Way?

We saw an extraordinary exchange on national testing and standards over the weekend in the Washington Post.

The Post editorial page called for national standards while Education Secretary Margaret Spellings responded in an op-ed that states should continue to be allowed to set their own standards, and they will raise standards on their own.

A Wake-Up Call

Americans like to think that our country is exceptional, and it is. For more than 100 years, we have enjoyed more freedom and economic opportunity than just about anywhere else in the world.

Families today may be worried about health care, gas prices, and the war in Iraq, but they never doubt that we will pass on America's legacy of freedom and opportunity to the next generation.

There's a new report on the American economy that is raising some real red flags. No one likes bad news, but if we care about our children and our country, we better pay attention to this report.

A Map That Shows State-National Test Differences

We found a really interesting tool online today, and I'm not going to say much except check it out.

It's a map from Gannett News Service called "Shortchanging Students: How state tests put image ahead of performance." I really like that headline.

An Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates

Ken Mehlman and I sent the following open letter to all of the presidential candidates today. (Ken is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a member of the ED in 08 steering committee. I was chairman of the Democratic National Committee so this is truly a bipartisan effort.)

We encourage you to read it and tell your favorite candidate that you agree with it.

Scores Are Up ... Now Let's Really Get Moving!

Test scores are up since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed.

Those are the headlines in newspapers all over America, from the New York Times to the L.A. Times and from Washington Post to Education Week.

That's great news, and I'm happy about it.

Good Enough ... Compared to What?

Can you do something pretty well, but still not do it good enough?


It's an interesting question, isn't it? It's like asking, "How good is ‘good enough'?"


A story on CBS News last week has me thinking about these questions. CBS reported on the results of the grade school proficiency tests in Georgia: 87 percent of fourth graders were rated proficient in 2005 on the state test. But when they were graded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, only 26 percent rated proficient.

America's Dream Harder to Reach

It may be a conceit on our part, but here in America we're pretty proud that anyone can grow up to be president ... or rich and famous ... or you fill in whatever measure of success you want.

We don't just think of this as the land of opportunity, we believe it.

So here comes this article in The Atlantic that suggests that opportunity may be harder to grasp that we have come to expect.

The First 100 Days: Make Our Schools the Priority

On Friday, I raised some of the questions we thought the presidential candidates should be asked at the latest round of debates.

CNN is now collecting recommendations for what the candidates should make their top priority during the first 100 days.

Keeping Young Teachers in the Classroom

We Challenge the Candidates: Answer These Questions

This Sunday and next Tuesday, the presidential candidates will converge on New Hampshire for two debates - the Democrats on Sunday and the Republicans on Tuesday.

No one has asked us to moderate either debate, but if they did, these are the questions we would ask...

ED in 08 Is Hitting the Ground in New Hampshire

We are moving the ED in 08 campaign into a new phase next week. On Monday, we will help open our first field office in Manchester, NH.