The formation of the next generation of citizens, along with an energy plan and a new economy based on innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, is perhaps the most important function that our government must perform. This country’s commitment to education is the foundation of our participatory democracy, our shared prosperity, and our national security. It is a covenant of trust that we have renewed over generations, from the founding of our leading universities in the 17th century, the genesis and expansion of public education in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the dismantling of segregation in the 20th century. With each successive generation, we have set the bar for excellence higher and spread its benefits wider. That is what we need today: higher, wider, deeper educational commitment.
We have struggled to renew this covenant in the 21st century. As the world economy moves in new, often unpredictable directions, our graduates have fallen behind their global peers in math and science, to say nothing of the students that fail to graduate. Education is basic to the new economy. For example, in 1950, the ratio of workers to social security beneficiaries was 7 to 1. Today, the current ratio is 3 to 1 and is expected to shrink over the next decade to 2 to 1. If we continue along this path, future generations will be deprived of adequate retirement benefits. Thus it is important to educate this next generation to the highest degree in order to sustain our quality of life, including our pension programs. We must move away from educating our youth based on the old economy, which revolved around assembly-line manufacturing, and step forward to focus on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, the key building blocks of our nation.
Our democracy rests on the principle that all men are created equal, and yet pernicious disparities persist between students of low-income and high-income communities. If we want to continue to lead, we must continue to innovate. We must rededicate ourselves to educating our youth for greatness, so that each child can enjoy his rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
EARLY EDUCATION: AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE
The persistent achievement gap between students from low-income communities and their peers in more affluent areas is in large part explained by the fact that children of poverty enter formal schooling an average of 18 months behind their more advantaged classmates (McCall, 1979). As early as age three, children of professional families know roughly 1,100 words, while children of families on public assistance know only 500 (Rise-Hartley, 1995).
The inequalities we observe in the classroom may often begin in the home, but it is one thing to appreciate a reason and quite another to accept it as an excuse. In my 25 years of public service, I have always stressed bold, innovative, practical solutions that work. If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we will need to reach children well before they enter Kindergarten.
We will need to make targeted interventions in the early lives of at-risk children. Our current child welfare laws scarcely come into play until the state takes the drastic step of removing a child from abusive or neglectful parents, often well after the damage is done. What we need is a dedicated army of social workers and professional educators who can provide support to well-meaning parents who may not possess the tools to properly prepare their children for school. And above all, we need to dramatically raise the quality of our voluntary pre-Kindergarten programs.
The state of Florida will spend roughly $22.7 billion on education this year. Less than 2% of that money will go to pre-Kindergarten programs, even though research shows that 90% of child brain development occurs before age five (The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, 2009). That’s over $22 billion to affect 10% of brain development, and less than $400 million to support the other 90%. Billions for remedial reading and math, pennies for getting it right the first time. A recent report by the Southern Education Foundation ranked Florida in the bottom five states nationally for quality pre-K education (Miami Herald, March 6, 2010).
I envision a nation where all children come to school with the basic skills to succeed. A large body of research shows that increased investments in early education pay for themselves several times over, in the form of reduced need for remediation, incarceration and public assistance over time (Calman & Tarr-Whelan, 2005; Ehrlich & Kornblatt, 2004). Studies show that a dollar spent on early education yields between $3 and $18 in societal benefits (Barnett & Masse, 2007; Bellfield & McEwan, 2004). We can expect significantly improved outcomes across the board: higher test scores, fewer students held back, higher graduation rates, and lower crime rates.
The Miami Business Forum and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce support this approach because good education is simply good business (Miami Herald, October 29 2009).
K-12:
Excellence in education must be our goal and our guiding light. Internationally, our high school students lag behind their peers in math and science. American students no longer simply trail behind other developed countries such as Denmark and Switzerland, or even China and Korea. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, American 15-year-olds trail their peers in Slovenia, Latvia, Azerbaijian and other countries in the developing world. (Programme for International Student Assessment, 2006)
Despite this, Charlie Crist thinks everything is A-OK in the world of public education. According to Crist, “thanks to the foresight and leadership of Governor Bush, public school students are showing great gains,” and “testing results show that these progressive education reforms are working.”
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The Gates Foundation’s 2009 Diplomas Count study concluded that just 58% of Florida students graduate with a standard diploma in four years, ranking us just five states from the bottom of the nation (Diplomas Count, 2009). I support the accountability measures developed by Jeb Bush, but let’s face facts: the FCAT has diagnosed our problem, but has done little to solve it.
As a US Senator, I want to be judged simply by results and getting the job done. That is why I support the Obama administration’s Race to the Top fund, which requires superintendents, boards of education, and teachers unions to all commit to significant reforms before they receive federal money. For years our policies have placed the interests of adults above the interests of children, and discouraged bold innovation in our public schools. We must do whatever it takes to move our students forward, and we must listen to the research to know what it takes.
Study after study shows that the greatest single driver of student learning is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. Kendrick Meek’s pet issue, reducing class size, costs more and helps students less, than recruiting and retaining superior teachers. According to Stanford professor Eric Hanushek, we would have to cut class size in half to achieve the same effect we could get from improving teacher quality (Hanushek, 1992).
On average, an ineffective teacher’s students will learn only half a year’s worth of material each year, while an exceptional teacher’s students will learn a year and a half’s worth of material in the same amount of time (Hanushek, 2004). There is simply no way to overstate the impact a great teacher can have on the life of a child.
Phenomenal organizations like Teach For America and Teaching Fellows have created a pipeline of top college graduates to serve in our communities of greatest need, but according to research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, only 15% of these highly educated, highly motivated teachers remain in their placements after four years (Donaldson, 2008).
Rigid pay scales that value seniority over results are at the heart of this problem. There are thousands of brilliant, dedicated educators in our communities who inspire, cajole, and wrangle achievement every day out of a love for children and a commitment to our shared values. But what scant gains we have made in recent years, we have achieved on their backs, and we cannot expect the system to make the dramatic changes that are required out of altruism alone. Our best and brightest have shown a willingness to trade off pay for the call of public service for several years, but as they begin to plan their career trajectories, they leave in droves for fields that reward their initiative and talent.
We need to make recruiting, retaining and rewarding first-rate teachers our number-one priority. Too often the debate has devolved into a binary argument over who is to blame when a child falls behind. The bitter back and forth over Florida Senate Bill 6 was just one example: rather than tear each other down, we need to come together to create sophisticated, meaningful evaluations and incentives that encourage our greatest teachers to work in our classrooms of greatest need.
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION:
Whether it is community college, university or a professional degree, I see higher education as not just a quality-of-life issue, but as a tool of economic development. On an individual level, post-secondary education makes higher wages and salaries possible, and also protects earners during economic downturns. According to a report by the Census Bureau, college graduates earn almost $1 million more than their peers who graduate only from high school (The Big Payoff, 2002), and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment among college graduates is currently less than half the rate for high school graduates (BLS, 2010).
On an international level, higher education pushes forward innovation in our economy. As our competitiveness relative to the rest of the world has declined, so too have our jobs moved overseas. The only way to ensure long-term economic growth is by developing our human capital.
The American university system that developed in the wake of the GI Bill is the envy of the world today, but the astronomical increase in the cost of tuition over the past thirty years has pushed a college diploma beyond the reach of many American families.
The reforms that President Obama signed into law in March will go a long way towards easing this burden. Starting in 2014, students’ loan repayments will be capped at 10% of discretionary income, and outstanding debt will be forgiven after 20 years. But we still need to dramatically raise the value of Pell Grants, which once covered two thirds of a public 4-year college education, but now cover less than one third of the cost. Until all qualified students have access to this cornerstone of the American dream, our work is not finished.
Like President Obama said in this year’s State of the Union address, “I do not accept second place for the United States of America.” To achieve first place, we need to prepare all of our children for the 21st century economy. By emphasizing education in early stages of development. We must also offer assistance and support to those who wish to re-enter the education system. Doing so will guarantee our future generations prosperity in an era directed by innovations in technology and science.
We, in Florida, need to recognize that not all children can or will graduate from a university, or even from high school. We need, as a nation, to develop adequate vocational training and education to fulfill the needs of a modern, post-industrial, technological economy. Even today, a good diesel mechanic will make a larger annual pay than an average college graduate. The same is true for a good chef, master electrician, or heavy equipment operator.
Lastly, Florida, who is currently at the bottom of economic loss due to unemployment and under-employment, must build its future based on education. Recent studies show that 54 percent of Floridians earn wages and salaries at 150 percent of a federally defined poverty level. At that level, Floridians can not own a house, provide for a family, or send their kids to college. Today, one in every 174 home mortgages are in trouble.
If Florida intends to be a part of the New Economy, in technology, innovation, and energy, the only door open is through substantially increased and improved education.
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11 Responses
Yes, we do need to strengthen the foundation of our education system. We are trailing behind the rest of the world, and if we wish to remain competitive as a nation, we must extend the right of education to everyone. Good job Ferre!
Education is important to securing social benefits. As the baby boomers are now reaching retirement, American welfare is on the verge of collapse. We need a new, well-educated society to step in and take charge in the global economy.
“the greatest resource a nation has are the minds of it’s children…”
Walt Disney
It’s so refreshing to see a candidate who has actually thought thru the issues rather than the old “Im for good jobs, great schools, and safe neighborhoods…”
You definitely have my donation and vote
Lack of funding is not the only reason education is poor in poorer communities. I have seen a phenomenon I think privileged people do not see. The reason for the poverty is corruption in the local government. Small time tyrants do not believe in equal opportunity and act to maintain an underprivileged class. Their policies are heavy on church and propaganda because they have discovered that people who can think logically will resent their tyranny. The citizens remain unmotivated and turn criminal because they see the criminality in the system, in the disparity between what we say about civil rights and what we provide. Don’t just throw more money at “help the poor” programs. Get rid of corruption, graft, and favoritism.
I wholeheartedly agree with early education programs. I do have a problem when discussing “effective teacher” issues. How would you rate what is an effective teacher. Certainly you cannot begin to compare those who teach in neighborhoods where students have advantages (i.e. basic needs food, shelter, school supplies) to those teachers whose students come to school hungry, have no school supplies or have no idea where they are going to be sleeping! The playing field begins at a disavantage.
I would like to see our schools utilized all year. There is so much for our children to learn and they won’t learn it with 2 weeks off for Christmas, another week for Easter and another week for Thanksgiving etc. Plus after a summer off it takes these children up to 3 weeks to be able to learn again so that is more wasted time out of our ridiculously short school year. Our children are way behind most first world countries with education, like a wise person said, another country designs and engineers electronic games but our children can only play them.
Your Comments
Teachers can only be as effective as the support for the learning environment. When principals do not follow through on discipline of their students, it is detrimental to a positive environment for learning in the classroom. Often this is the case when as the number of discipline interventions needed is increased the principal’s evaluation is negatively affected. When dollars are not committed to low class sizes, teachers cannot spend as much time as needed to properly assist struggling students. When dollars are not committed to providing facilities that support the integration of technology in learning, our students, who are digital natives, suffer because they do not learn in the manner their parents much less their grandparents did. Learning needs to be relevant in its presentation and scope to the environment, our students are immersed in everyday life. We need to be able to develop their 21st Century workforce skills and that cannot be done without abundant, available 21st Century technology in the classrooms for both students and teachers to use. Take the time to do the literature search on brain development to see what happens when a child is not exposed to a rich language environment prior to age 5 and how it changes the brains function and capacity for learning. It isn’t just a matter of less words known as though you can teach deprived students those extra 1000 words and everything will be equal. It will not be. You are better informed than most but still insufficiently informed to be making pronouncements that deride teachers who may not be able to get a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Students initially do catch up but fall back again as they age. Pre-K is not soon enough to intervene. Intervention needs to begin at birth. Learning is a 3-legged stool. The teacher, student, and parent or guardian are those legs. If any one of them is not doing their part to hold up that stool, the child’s education will suffer and fail. There are many adults heading households with children. There are fewer with parents, i.e. those who actually nurture and guide their children to positive outcomes. That has to be done from birth, not just age five, nor solely is it the responsibility of failure of the public schools.Teachers can only be as effective as the support for the learning environment. When principals do not follow through on discipline of students (because as the number of discipline interventions needed is increased their evaluation is negatively affected) it is detrimental to a positive environment for learning in the classroom. When dollars are not committed to low class sizes, teachers cannot spend as much time as needed to properly assist struggling students. When dollars are not committed to providing facilities that support the integration of technology in learning, our students, who are digital natives, suffer because they do not learn in the manner their parents much less their grandparents did. Learning needs to be relevant in its presentation and scope to the environment our students are immersed in in everyday life. We need to be able to develop their 21st Century workforce skills and that cannot be done without abundant, available 21st Century technology in the classrooms for both students and teachers to use. Take the time to do the literature search on brain development to see what happens when a child is not exposed to a rich language environment prior to age 5 and how it changes the brains function and capacity for learning. It isn’t just a matter of less words known as though you can teach deprived students those extra 1000 words and everything will be equal. It won’t be. You are better informed than most but still insufficiently informed to be making pronouncements that deride teachers who may not be able to get a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Students initially do catch up but fall back again as they age. Pre-K is not soon enough to intervene. Intervention needs to begin at birth. Learning is a 3-legged stool. The teacher, student, and parent or guardian are those legs. If any one of them isn’t doing their part to hold up that stool, the child’s education, will suffer and fail. There are many adults heading households with children. There are fewer with parents, i.e. those who actually nurture and guide their children to positive outcomes. That has to be done from birth, not just age 5, nor solely is it the responsibility of failure of the public schools.
Your Comments
Teachers can only be as effective as the support for the learning environment. When principals do not follow through on discipline of their students, it is detrimental to a positive environment for learning in the classroom. Often this is the case when as the number of discipline interventions needed is increased the principal’s evaluation is negatively affected. When dollars are not committed to low class sizes, teachers cannot spend as much time as needed to properly assist struggling students. When dollars are not committed to providing facilities that support the integration of technology in learning, our students, who are digital natives, suffer because they do not learn in the manner their parents much less their grandparents did. Learning needs to be relevant in its presentation and scope to the environment our students are immersed in everyday life. We need to be able to develop their 21st Century workforce skills and that cannot be done without abundant, available 21st Century technology in the classrooms for both students and teachers to use. Take the time to do the literature search on brain development to see what happens when a child is not exposed to a rich language environment prior to age 5 and how it changes the brain’s function and capacity for learning. It isn’t just a matter of less words known as though you can teach deprived students those extra 1000 words and everything will be equal. It will not be. You are better informed than most but still insufficiently informed to be making pronouncements that deride teachers who may not be able to get a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Students initially do catch up but fall back again as they age. Pre-K is not soon enough to intervene. Intervention needs to begin at birth. Learning is a 3-legged stool. The teacher, student, and parent or guardian are those legs. If any one of them is not doing their part to hold up that stool, the child’s education will suffer and fail. There are many adults heading households with children. There are fewer with parents, i.e. those who actually nurture and guide their children to positive outcomes. That has to be done from birth, not just age five, nor is it solely the responsibility of or failure of the public schools. Teachers can only be as effective as the support for the learning environment. When principals do not follow through on discipline of students it is detrimental to a positive environment for learning in the classroom. This often occurs because as the number of discipline interventions needed is increased the principal’s evaluation is negatively affected. When dollars are not committed to low class sizes, teachers cannot spend as much time as needed to properly assist struggling students. When dollars are not committed to providing facilities that support the integration of technology in learning, our students, who are digital natives, suffer because they do not learn in the manner their parents much less their grandparents did. Learning needs to be relevant in its presentation and scope to the environment our students are immersed in in everyday life. We need to be able to develop their 21st Century workforce skills and that cannot be done without abundant, available 21st Century technology in the classrooms for both students and teachers to use. Take the time to do the literature search on brain development to see what happens when a child is not exposed to a rich language environment prior to age 5 and how it changes the brains function and capacity for learning. It isn’t just a matter of less words known as though you can teach deprived students those extra 1000 words and everything will be equal. It won’t be. You are better informed than most but still insufficiently informed to be making pronouncements that deride teachers who may not be able to get a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Students initially do catch up but fall back again as they age. Pre-K is not soon enough to intervene. Intervention needs to begin at birth. Learning is a 3-legged stool. The teacher, student, and parent or guardian are those legs. If any one of them isn’t doing their part to hold up that stool, the child’s education, will suffer and fail. There are many adults heading households with children. There are fewer with parents, i.e. those who actually nurture and guide their children to positive outcomes. That has to be done from birth, not just age 5, nor solely is it the responsibility of failure of the public schools.
Yess! Everything you said is what we need. We have to get up-to-date. The education system has used the same books, tests, and lesson plans for years. We need projects and hands on educations. We need job preparation education. When I graduated from college at Missouri Valley, everything I learned was out-of-date when I got to the real working world. Why were the lesson plans and books that we learned was so far behind. I have a BS in Computer Information Systems, and still felt so out-of-date when I tried to look for jobs here in FLA. I got told to go get certified! But, I’m thinking why, I just graduated. It’s backwards.
Buena Suerte, Mr. Ferre. Your stance for education has convinced me to cast a vote for you. I think that we especially need to create higher incentives for the teachers to stay in “at risk” or lower “SES areas” (such as teach for america). The higher value we place on education and the providers of education, the better equipped our young people will be to compete globally.
I believe that once adults leave school the lose all concern for it. Funding in public schools is awful. We are down to the bones and we still keep losing money and sports and the arts have already lost all their funding. I love Ferre’s idea of getting better teaachers. No matter what the subject I always do well in a class with a good teacher and all cutting class sizes does is irritate people. Yes my class is now only 20 people or whatever BUT I can’t get a schedule change out of the elective I don’t want to be in becuase it will throw my schedule off and then there will be too many students in a class but we can’t get more teachers because there’s no funding! When it comes to college I think the Pell Grant needs to be extended first then increased. I’m counting on my Pell Grant money for junior and senior year but as it stands I’ll only recieve it for 2 years. Ferre is the only canidate I’ve seen to take a real stand on education.