Federal

Panel: U.S. Should Create National Standards, Spend Billions More on Pre-K-12 Schooling

August 23, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Includes updates and/or revisions

A liberal-leaning group of political leaders and education policy experts is urging a new set of strategies for boosting the quality of public education in the United States, including voluntary national academic standards, preschool for every child, an extended school day and year, and a massive new amount of federal spending on education—at least $325 billion over the next 10 years.

Members of an education policy task force, including Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, made their recommendations public on Aug. 23 at the National Press Club.

Read “Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer: A Progressive Education Agenda for a Stronger Nation” from the Center for American Progress.

The panel’s report, “Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer: A Progressive Education Agenda for a Stronger Nation,” originally was designed as a response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the 2002 law that requires every state to test students in grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics, among other reforms.

Gov. Napolitano, who likened the challenge of improving U.S. schools to the 1960s’ race to the moon, said the task force’s report does not stress “failure” or test scores only, as some educators contend is the case with NCLB, but calls for other ways to hold schools accountable. She said new investments in education and national attention to workforce issues will help America keep pace with the fast-developing economies of China and India.

“My friends, we’re in the midst of an international brain race,” she said, adding that moving on the task force’s recommendations would “give notice to the world that the race is on.”

The panel’s other leaders, New York investment firm executive Philip D. Murphy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and writer Roger Wilkins, said American democracy is threatened without more attention to educational improvement from political leaders and the public.

“It’s not so much the challenge outside [the U.S.] that I care so deeply about. It’s the challenge inside—Appalachia, Indian reservations,” and other poor sections of the country, said Mr. Wilkins, a former District of Columbia school board member who teaches history at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The task force and its report were sponsored by two liberal-leaning think tanks, the Center for American Progress and the Institute for America’s Future, both based in the nation’s capital. John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under President Clinton and the president of the Center for American Progress, said last year that the 12-member task force would be bipartisan and would examine issues without regard to politics.

But only one task force member was introduced as a Republican: former U.S. Rep. John H. Buchanan of Alabama, who sounded a liberal tone in calling for special attention to equal educational opportunities for poor and minority students and their families. “Equity is what we need the most,” the Republican said. “We have to put our money where are mouths are.”

Task-force leaders acknowledged the costs of their proposals would be staggering for federal and state governments.

Mr. Murphy, a senior director at the Jersey City, N.J. -based Goldman, Sachs & Co. said he hoped to convince other business leaders and government officials that such spending would be a worthy investment. “You have to phase stuff in,” he said in an interview. “You can’t do it overnight. That’s probably the only pragmatic solution” to the costs. Traveling internationally, he said he understood “up close and personal the threat to our economy, and frankly, our civilization’s place in the world” if the United States doesn’t take action.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Education were not immediately available for comment on the report.

The task force held six hearings around the nation earlier this year to gather ideas about what the public wants from schools. Comments from those hearings were used in developing the report, Mr. Podesta said.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Achievement Webinar
Student Success Strategies: Flexibility, Recovery & More
Join us for Student Success Strategies to explore flexibility, credit recovery & more. Learn how districts keep students on track.
Content provided by Pearson
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Shaping the Future of AI in Education: A Panel for K-12 Leaders
Join K-12 leaders to explore AI’s impact on education today, future opportunities, and how to responsibly implement it in your school.
Content provided by Otus
Student Achievement K-12 Essentials Forum Learning Interventions That Work
Join this free virtual event to explore best practices in academic interventions and how to know whether they are making a difference.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Explainer Linda McMahon, U.S. Secretary of Education: Background and Achievements
Background and highlights of Linda McMahon's tenure as the 13th U.S. Secretary of Education.
Education Week Library Staff
2 min read
Linda McMahon, former Administrator of Small Business Administration, speaks during the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.
Linda McMahon, former Administrator of Small Business Administration, speaks during the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal Linda McMahon Is Confirmed by Senate as Education Secretary
The former wrestling mogul will become the nation's 13th secretary of education, and she has pledged to be its last.
4 min read
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025.
Linda McMahon testifies during her Feb. 13, 2025, confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol. The Senate has confirmed McMahon to serve as the next secretary of education.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week
Federal Trump Admin. Says Race-Based Classes Don't Automatically Break the Law
Among other things, an FAQ document clarifies some rules around student clubs and the teaching of Black history—two areas of confusion.
6 min read
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021. The department's office for civil rights has instructed schools to end race-based programs, sparking confusion about what's allowed.
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP
Federal Education Department Launches 'End DEI' Website to Solicit Complaints About Schools
The Trump administration wants the public to report schools for using DEI practices.
2 min read
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Dec. 1, 2020.
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, pictured on Dec. 1, 2020. The Trump administration has launched a portal for the public to report schools engaged in DEI activities.
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP