| Republican Senate Candidate Jack Shepard positions on Issues are 100 % similar to Democratic Senate Candidate Al Franken Education |
Every American child should have access to an affordable, world-class education.
Growing up in St. Louis Park, Al had access to a terrific public education system.
That's because, in the 1930s, Governor Floyd B. Olson (a Socialist!) worked with a
conservative legislature to pass the state's first progressive income tax – and devoted
every dollar of revenue to K-12 education. That's how Minnesota had the lowest rate of
soldiers rejected for lack of education in World War II. Up until recently, Minnesota
has been a national leader in investing in education. It's time that our country truly
commit to "Leaving No Child Behind." Except, this time, we should actually do it
instead of just using it as a slogan.
Here's where I stand:
I believe we have to fully fund our public schools. We owe it to our states, and more
importantly, we owe it to our kids to provide them with the same opportunities I had
growing up.
Every public school in America should have small class sizes, well-maintained facilities,
plenty of school supplies, and more support staff.
Teachers should be paid as the professionals they are. Professional development should
be under the control of teachers at the school site, allowing teachers to gain new skills
through coaching, mentoring, and assessment by other teachers.
Parents shouldn't have to pay "activity fees" for their kids to play sports or participate
in arts or music programs. We didn't have activity fees when I was a kid. Studies show
that the number one determinant of whether a kid stays in school is whether they
identify with their school. What do you want your kids doing between 3:00 and 6:00?
I'd want mine learning skills and school spirit.
When I get to Washington, someone is going to have to explain to me why we have
unfunded mandates. It's unconscionable that the federal government fails to live up to
its commitments. Right now, the federal government only pays for 19% of special
education costs – after promising to cover 40%. When I get to the Senate, I'll fight to
end unfunded mandates.
In addition to funding issues, I believe that the No Child Left Behind law must be
dramatically reformed or scrapped altogether. I'm for accountability, but I'm not for
the deeply-flawed NCLB system. I once read about something called McNamara's
Fallacy. It goes like this:
The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it
goes. The second step is to disregard that which can't easily be measured or to give it
an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to
presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important. This is blindness.
The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured really doesn't exist.
In other words, instead of trying to measure what's important, we end up deciding that
whatever's easiest to measure is most important. If we're going to keep No Child Left
Behind, we have to stop falling prey to McNamara's Fallacy. Here are a few of the
reforms I'm for:
End arbitrary performance standards and replace them with models that measure and
reward progress achieved during the school year.
Encourage more flexibility in measuring student achievement. Allow teachers to
participate in the evaluation of their students' progress over the course of a year
instead of at a single point in time (for instance, by assembling student portfolios).
Reading comprehension and math skills tests only measure reading comprehension and
math skills (and, I suppose, test-taking skills). We should measure critical thinking,
teamwork, creativity, and other important skills. And we have to reverse the narrowing
of our curriculum that has de-emphasized science, art, civic, and physical education.
Stop duplicative testing. My daughter taught third grade in a public school for three
years, and she was constantly frustrated by the amount of classroom time that had to
be devoted to testing and test preparation. While we need to measure student progress,
too many districts have overlapping district, state, and federal tests. We should audit
tests at the district, state, and federal level to ensure that this doesn't happen.
Instead of punishing low-performing schools, use research-based interventions to help
them improve. Give them the resources to hire, develop, and retain the best teachers by
offering increased pay, safe working conditions, and sufficient support staff and
facilities.
Stop including English language learners (ELLs) in measurements of annual progress
before they're proficient in English. And don't punish a school simply because one
"cell" – such as special education students – fails to meet a benchmark.
But there's more to do than just follow through on our commitment to providing every
American child with a world-class K-12 education.
I like to say that it's impossible to guarantee every child an equal opportunity in life –
there are just too many factors (parents, economic status, talent) beyond our control.
But we can and should guarantee every child a fair chance. That's why I believe we
should invest in early childhood education. A child who's been read to by the age of 5
has twice the vocabulary of a peer who hasn't. Economists and educators alike believe
that investment in early childhood education more than pays off in the long run. It's
time we invested in the earliest part of life instead of building more prisons.
We should also restore Pell Grants so that every American family can send its children
to college without incurring a crushing burden of debt. When my wife's sisters were
attending college on Pell Grants, a full Pell Grant paid for 90% of a college education.
Today, it's less than 40%.
Here's an idea I heard from a student in Mankato: Let's create an ROTC-style
program for teachers. If a student pledges to teach a needed subject in a designated
needy area for a certain amount of time (say, math in a poor rural district suffering
from a shortage of math teachers), the federal government could forgive some or all of
that student's loans.
After the collapse of the 35W bridge, we were all reminded of the importance of
investing in our nation's physical infrastructure. But we shouldn't forget to invest in
our nation's human infrastructure, either.
Growing up in St. Louis Park, Al had access to a terrific public education system.
That's because, in the 1930s, Governor Floyd B. Olson (a Socialist!) worked with a
conservative legislature to pass the state's first progressive income tax – and devoted
every dollar of revenue to K-12 education. That's how Minnesota had the lowest rate of
soldiers rejected for lack of education in World War II. Up until recently, Minnesota
has been a national leader in investing in education. It's time that our country truly
commit to "Leaving No Child Behind." Except, this time, we should actually do it
instead of just using it as a slogan.
Here's where I stand:
I believe we have to fully fund our public schools. We owe it to our states, and more
importantly, we owe it to our kids to provide them with the same opportunities I had
growing up.
Every public school in America should have small class sizes, well-maintained facilities,
plenty of school supplies, and more support staff.
Teachers should be paid as the professionals they are. Professional development should
be under the control of teachers at the school site, allowing teachers to gain new skills
through coaching, mentoring, and assessment by other teachers.
Parents shouldn't have to pay "activity fees" for their kids to play sports or participate
in arts or music programs. We didn't have activity fees when I was a kid. Studies show
that the number one determinant of whether a kid stays in school is whether they
identify with their school. What do you want your kids doing between 3:00 and 6:00?
I'd want mine learning skills and school spirit.
When I get to Washington, someone is going to have to explain to me why we have
unfunded mandates. It's unconscionable that the federal government fails to live up to
its commitments. Right now, the federal government only pays for 19% of special
education costs – after promising to cover 40%. When I get to the Senate, I'll fight to
end unfunded mandates.
In addition to funding issues, I believe that the No Child Left Behind law must be
dramatically reformed or scrapped altogether. I'm for accountability, but I'm not for
the deeply-flawed NCLB system. I once read about something called McNamara's
Fallacy. It goes like this:
The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it
goes. The second step is to disregard that which can't easily be measured or to give it
an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to
presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important. This is blindness.
The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured really doesn't exist.
In other words, instead of trying to measure what's important, we end up deciding that
whatever's easiest to measure is most important. If we're going to keep No Child Left
Behind, we have to stop falling prey to McNamara's Fallacy. Here are a few of the
reforms I'm for:
End arbitrary performance standards and replace them with models that measure and
reward progress achieved during the school year.
Encourage more flexibility in measuring student achievement. Allow teachers to
participate in the evaluation of their students' progress over the course of a year
instead of at a single point in time (for instance, by assembling student portfolios).
Reading comprehension and math skills tests only measure reading comprehension and
math skills (and, I suppose, test-taking skills). We should measure critical thinking,
teamwork, creativity, and other important skills. And we have to reverse the narrowing
of our curriculum that has de-emphasized science, art, civic, and physical education.
Stop duplicative testing. My daughter taught third grade in a public school for three
years, and she was constantly frustrated by the amount of classroom time that had to
be devoted to testing and test preparation. While we need to measure student progress,
too many districts have overlapping district, state, and federal tests. We should audit
tests at the district, state, and federal level to ensure that this doesn't happen.
Instead of punishing low-performing schools, use research-based interventions to help
them improve. Give them the resources to hire, develop, and retain the best teachers by
offering increased pay, safe working conditions, and sufficient support staff and
facilities.
Stop including English language learners (ELLs) in measurements of annual progress
before they're proficient in English. And don't punish a school simply because one
"cell" – such as special education students – fails to meet a benchmark.
But there's more to do than just follow through on our commitment to providing every
American child with a world-class K-12 education.
I like to say that it's impossible to guarantee every child an equal opportunity in life –
there are just too many factors (parents, economic status, talent) beyond our control.
But we can and should guarantee every child a fair chance. That's why I believe we
should invest in early childhood education. A child who's been read to by the age of 5
has twice the vocabulary of a peer who hasn't. Economists and educators alike believe
that investment in early childhood education more than pays off in the long run. It's
time we invested in the earliest part of life instead of building more prisons.
We should also restore Pell Grants so that every American family can send its children
to college without incurring a crushing burden of debt. When my wife's sisters were
attending college on Pell Grants, a full Pell Grant paid for 90% of a college education.
Today, it's less than 40%.
Here's an idea I heard from a student in Mankato: Let's create an ROTC-style
program for teachers. If a student pledges to teach a needed subject in a designated
needy area for a certain amount of time (say, math in a poor rural district suffering
from a shortage of math teachers), the federal government could forgive some or all of
that student's loans.
After the collapse of the 35W bridge, we were all reminded of the importance of
investing in our nation's physical infrastructure. But we shouldn't forget to invest in
our nation's human infrastructure, either.