Michael Hansen of the Brookings Institution lists the five questions he thinks that the candidates should be asked about education. They are not the questions I would ask. (Hansen, by the way, has defended VAM, pooh-poohed parent concerns about overtesting, and defended the effectiveness of Teach for America.)
They are not bad questions (what kind of person would you choose for Secretary of Education? how can Title I be improved? Have the Obama administration policies for higher education helped students? Which federal education programs would you expand, which would you shrink? How much would you increase funding for education research?). I actually would like to see these questions asked, since I am willing to bet that Donald Trump has no idea what Title I is, what No Child Behind was, what the Obama administration policies in higher education are, or which federal education programs are worth expanding or eliminating. He is for charters. He is against Common Core. Other than that, there is no indication that he knows anything about education issues.
Here are questions I would ask:
1. Do you think the federal government should continue to support the privatization of public education? Does the federal government have a role in strengthening and protecting public schools that have democratic governance?
2. Would you expand or shrink the funds now dedicated to privately managed charter schools?
3. What is your view of vouchers that allow public dollars to be spent in religious schools?
4. How would you define the federal role in education?
5. What do you see as the federal role in increasing equitable resources among districts and schools?
6. Would you be willing to persuade Congress to reduce the burden of standardized testing? Specifically, how would you change the federal law to ease the federal pressure to test students annually, a practice unknown in high-performing countries?
7. Do you think that every child should be instructed by a professionally prepared and certified teacher? How can the federal government verify that states are hiring fully qualified teachers?
I am sure you have many more good questions. Please suggest them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Center for Media and Democracy information on the Brookings Institution.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Brookings_Institution
LikeLike
The Center for Media and Democracy is a superb organization. Unlike Brookings, their work is integral to a functioning democracy. CMD has extensive information about ALEC and, they built UnKochMyCampus.org., a critical source of information for higher ed. Just one of CMD’s researchers, is worth more than 100 of those on the Brookings’ payroll.
LikeLike
I don’t like the vouchers question because it’s to specific, vouchers and religion. Several states have already expanded the voucher concept to education savings accounts (like health savings accounts), where the per pupil funding goes to the student not the school. In Nevada, the only requirement to qualify is the student must have spend the previous six months in public school. These funds are given to the student in the form of a debit card, so they are open to fraud. The student can use the money for online learning, homeschooling, or even religious private schools. Any money not spent on schooling can be put into a college savings account. This program incentivizes parents to pull their children out of public school. There could be a lot of unqualified and working parents taking advantage of this program at the expense of their children’s education.
LikeLike
Why do you continue to support failed ideas, failed policies, and failed products?
LikeLike
Guess I would start with some more fundamental questions: for what purpose do we spend money to educate children in our country? What is the connection between education and democracy? What role, if any, do economic considerations play?
LikeLike
I like your questions, Dienne. They call for a response that is not already shaped by the question.
LikeLike
Your comments re: Hansen is great, Diane. Love your questions!!!!!
LikeLike
How should the federal government help protect the privacy of student personal information? How should the federal government encourage the adoption of evidence-based policies that have been proven towork, rather than fund experimentation on children – often done without parental consent? How should the federal government support the democratic control and oversight of our public schools, as well as parental input into decision-making at the school, district and statewide levels?
LikeLike
What is the purpose of public education?
From where does the authorization of public education come?
LikeLike
I would ask why federal policies have embraced what appears to be blind faith in the power of ed tech in public schools – with no discourse about how much is too much – and ignores all the evidence that isn’t glowing. Any money spent on ed tech is NOT spent on smaller class sizes, more reading specialists, more food for hungry children, more social workers. I’m not arguing we should spend no money on technology – but the balance is way off, and other pressing priorities are getting short changed.
I would also ask them what they thing competency-based education is – not in jargon – but in words that parents and teachers will understand, and ask explicitly if they think it requires a computer.
LikeLike
It’s critical to separate these two things when asking about policy:
* the amount of time and money spent on tests
* the amount of classroom time spent on test prep.
Too often we let politicians get away with the claim that they’re listening to the public and therefore decreasing the number of testing hours. AFT’s summary of ESSA, for example, says it “allows states to set a target limit on the aggregate amount of time that students spend taking assessments for each grade.” But what’s the big deal, really, with a 20% decrease from 30 hours of testing to 24?
Those saved 6 hours aren’t the issue. It’s the *hundreds* of hours of classroom time wasted on mindless test prep, which federal policy is driving. It’s the narrowing of curriculum, the squeezing out of project-based learning, the elimination of history, art, electives, and so forth. It’s the discouragement felt by students and the damage done to the teaching profession. It’s the assessment-industrial complex undermining our public education system. Those are the consequences of current federal policy, improved only marginally by ESSA.
LikeLike
Dr. Hansen’s sources of income?
Why doesn’t he want to know the following? (1) By what authority does the Aspen Institute influence public education policy. (Gates funds the Aspen Institute’s “Senior Congressional Education Staff Network”.
(2) By what democratic right, do the Waltons’ and Gates’ billions, influence policy.
(3) Is education’s transmutation, driven by profit opportunity for Silicon Valley,
Wall Street, etc. (4) The American people, suffer greatly under plutocratic control and concentrated wealth. Shouldn’t the success of PEOPLE’S public schools, be achieved without the Microsoft/Pearson Common Core product deal and, the for-profit schools-in-a-box, i.e. Bridge International Academies, investor-Bill Gates. (5) Do the influence-peddling firms and corporate lobbying groups corrupt government control of education (plutocrats select schools, for their own children, that reject reform). (6) Do the calls for elimination of democratically elected school boards (Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, partnered in a large charter school chain), mock democratic majority opinion? (7) Is it reprehensible for reformers to describe the public school system, as a “human capital pipeline” (with all that that implies).
LikeLike
Should federal income taxes pay for local public schools with the arrangement that those LEAs should retain virtually complete autonomy with regard to testing, APPR, standards, and curriculum?
LikeLike
Why do you turn a blind eye to the each year more statistically documented fact that more than a decade of failed educational policies have created a system whereby many of our nation’s poorest children have been endlessly and detrimentally labeled, humiliated, segregated by both poverty and race…and even criminalized and incarcerated through the draconian “no-excuses” charter school discipline game?
LikeLike
If you were addressing me, I happen to believe that federal taxes should mostly fund public schools and local autonomy by those schools should be retained. It would be a prime example of federal taxes trickling back to taxpayers, who paid them in the first place, the way it is basically done in Europe.
Those private individuals and families who pay federal taxes should have the ultimate say in how their schools are run; otherwise, it is taxation without representation. Of course, there have to be guidelines, but they should be determined locally, and the federal government should not be dictating or heavily influencing educational policy. ESSA, in my estimate, does not take this nearly far enough even if it is an improvement over NCLB and RttT.
Neither the feds nor the state legislatures should be determining APPR or the roles of standardized tests.
I sincerely hope I am clear about that.
LikeLike
I apologize if I confused the conversation. I was writing out a question which I would ask Presidential candidates if given the chance.
LikeLike
A QUESTION I WOULD ASK CANDIDATES
LikeLike
Ciedie,
I am sorry for misinterpreting your comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you think competition is good in education? Specifically, is it useful if states compete for federal funds, schools compete for state funds, teachers compete with each other for higher salaries and to keep their jobs, and children compete with each other?
What is the importance of speed in learning? Specifically, is it important that kids learn something as quickly as possible? Is speedy learning effective? How important is it to give quick answers to questions? What is the relationship between quick learning and understanding? What is the relationship between quick answers to questions and (creative) thinking?
Which slogan do you think is more appropriate in education: “Just do it!” or “Think before you do!”
LikeLike
Do you agree with the NAACP’s repudiation of the controversial education reform policies of the past fifteen years?
Currently, wealthy individuals including foreign nationals are given incentives by the United States government to independently run American public schools. Would you support or oppose regulation of this public school industry?
Do you like apples? Matt Damon supports Dr. Diane Ravitch. How do you like those apples?
LikeLike
Will you take the sample SBAC/PARCC tests and tell us what you think?
LikeLike
great question, Ponderosa.
Clinton will say No and Trump will say, “what’s that?”
LikeLike
Yeah, Ponderosa, the reason why this is a great question is because I think politicians should be asked specifics and not wide policy questions where they can bs. They really need to be forced to feel the issues, and not just give an opinion at the philosophical level which they find reasonable.
The more unexpected a question, the more they need to think about the answer, the better, imo.
So if it was up to me, I’d rewrite Diane’s original questions so that they are more specific and they are not asking for wide policy. At the end, politicians will make wide policy—they are good at that—and our job is to make sure, they do understand and feel the lower level details as much as possible.
LikeLike
Here are three I would pose:
=> We have tested children for over two decades and all the results show a strong correlation between low test scores and poverty. What steps should the federal government take to address persistent poverty?
=> The lack of affordable housing in affluent communities is contributing to resegregation. What steps would you take to promote fair housing practices in the suburbs?
=> Do you think that schools should be run like a business? (or stated somewhat differently: Do the rules of free markets apply to public education?)
LikeLike
“Do the rules of free markets apply to public education?”
Perhaps more provocatively:
There is a claim that free market principles and methods are useful and effective in education. Do you know of any evidence that would support this claim? Do you know of any evidence to the contrary: that, in fact, free market principles are harmful in education?
LikeLike
There is a wonderful new book out that shows the failure of the free market in education. Samuel Abrams, Education and the Commercial Mindset.
LikeLike
Quoting Michael Fiorillo. “For ed reform, it takes a pillage.”
LikeLike
So nasty!
So absolutely true!
So Fiorillo!
LikeLike