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Mike Reagan: "[T]he greatest security risks facing our nation -- our failing education system."

A commentary written by Mike Reagan, elder son of the late President Reagan, was published March 12, 2010 by the East Valley Tribune.  Titled, "U.S. security in peril by failing schools", Reagan discusses the risk of a failing education system and our country's security. 

"Across the board, the benefits from a well-educated population are tangible and undeniable, and yet nearly three out of 10 American students now fail to graduate from high school.

Looking at the results coming out of our current education system, I cannot help but be deeply alarmed."

Reagan references in his comments testimony given by Andreas Schleicher, Directorate for Education for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to Congress last week.

Quoting Schleicher, Reagan writes:

"'Among OECD countries, only New Zealand, Spain, Turkey and Mexico now have lower high school completion rates than the U.S.'" 

"He went on to say that, 'If the U.S. would raise the performance of schools by a similar amount, that could translate into a long-term economic value of over $40 trillion.'

The personal and economic benefits from a strong education system are clear. Moreover, in a global market, American students must compete in an increasingly educated, productive world. The moment we can no longer keep up, we will have surrendered our national prosperity and security."

[snip]

Reagan concludes with the following call:

"Our children's future, our country's future, must never be a political pawn in the government's all-too-familiar gambit for more control. We must equip our schools, our teachers and our children with all the resources they need to lead academically the way we know we can, the way we have done in the past. We must equip local school districts not only with financial resources but with an investment of trust and authority, so that our schools can focus on the business of education, not bureaucracy."

Emphasis added.

Read Mike Reagan's commentary as published by the East Valley Tribune by clicking here.


To read a related post on the testimony as given by Andreas Schleicher, the new Common Core Standards, as well as related news articles, visit the Arizona Education Network's article The National Governors Association Releases Common Core Standards; Arizona Early Supporter.

With fiscal house on fire, private-school tax credits are irresponsible

With fiscal house on fire, private-school tax credits are irresponsible
By MaryLee Moulton

As Rome burns, our state Legislature continues to fiddle away. Faced with a burgeoning budget hole and no solution in sight, the legislative leadership last week proposed a way to deepen — yes, deepen — our state debt.

It involves funneling even more state tax dollars to private schools and helping line the pockets of the middlemen who profit handily by skimming 10 percent of tax-credit dollars as they are diverted to private schools.

A House committee appointed by House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, allegedly to investigate abuses of the private school tax-credit system, instead last week released recommendations to expand rather than reform the program, which two separate newspaper investigations have found to be rife with abuse.

The newspapers found that the program, which was established to help pay poor kids' tuition at private and parochial schools, primarily benefits the wealthy, who receive a taxpayer-funded subsidy to pay for their children's elite and costly education. This comes at the expense of all other Arizonans, who are suffering job losses, closed state parks and woefully underfunded public and charter schools because of the state's budget crisis.

The private-school tax credit program has diverted $380 million from the general fund since its inception in 1997. This year alone — at a time when the state is talking about talking about issuing IOUs because it can't pay its bills — $55 million of your tax dollars will walk out the door with no benefit to average Arizonans.

Your state tax dollars will also continue enriching Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Mesa, the primary sponsor of legislation expanding private-school tax credits and the beneficiary of those tax dollars as head of the largest School Tuition Organization. Legislators have already refused to declare that Yarbrough has a blatant conflict of interest that should be illegal; instead of cracking down on his industry, the House panel voted to help him expand it.

Incredibly, rather than voting to restrict this program to only the financially needy, the House panel voted to recommend increasing the amount that taxpayers can direct to private schools from $500 to $750 for an individual and $1,000 to $1,500 for a couple.

How can any responsible legislator faced with a budget deficit of more than $3 billion recommend increasing a tax credit that is not limited by financial need? In the recent special session, the Legislature cut an additional $144 million to public schools mid-year. This is on top of the $133 million in cuts in January 2009. More cuts are on the way. Keep in mind that Arizona is already 50th in the nation in per-pupil spending on K-12 education.

Every Arizonan should contact their state legislator and demand they follow the fiscally responsible path. Insist that any scholarship offered through tax credits is means tested. Tell them to introduce legislation to reduce the 10 percent taken off the top to a more reasonable 3 to 5 percent. Finally, tell them they will be held accountable if they expand special interest tax breaks when Arizona has a $3 billion deficit.

Arizonans must take action to force our legislators to be fiscally responsible.

MaryLee Moulton is a co-founder of the Arizona Education Network. E-mail MaryLee Moulton at marylee@arizonaeducationnetwork.com

Sharpton & Gingrich: Rising above differences, coming together on education

October 1, 2009, Rev. Al Sharpton and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich toured BASIS, a nationally recognized charter school in Tucson, Arizona. While a banner day for Tucson, it was just one of many stops this "political odd couple" would make as part of President Obama's "Race to the Top" challenge to our nation's schools, which "is an unprecedented federal investment in [educational] reform. [Secretary of Education, Arne] Duncan will reserve up to $350 million to help states create assessments aligned to common sets of standards. The remaining $4 billion will be awarded in a national competition."

The second half of this past Sunday's "Meet the Press" featured both Rev. Al Sharpton, Newt Gingrich as well as Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Together, the trio discussed their perception of the state of education in our nation, as well as what is working, what isn't working, and where improvements can be made. While disagreements on how we go about arriving at success remain, a succesful outcome is a shared objective; one in which all three agree partisanship has no place.

"If we could come together on education, I think it's an example to the kids that some things should be above our differences." ~ Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network

"[I]f politics are the art of the possible, our children deserve a chance to see us come together, to put their future above partisanship and to find a way to take on the, the establishment in both parties and try to get this [crisis in education] solved." ~ Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich

"Those old, tired fights of the past just don't get us where we need to go. Everybody's moving, everybody's willing to move. At the end of the day, we want dramatically different outcomes for students. That's the only reason we all work every single day." ~ Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan

How refreshing.

It seems to me there is a great deal our legislature could learn from these "political polar opposites". While the challenge reaches into every state across the nation and threatens political capital, this interview was a clear example of how civility can be the first step towards success. Decorum never took a back seat to ideology. Respect never took a backseat to partisanship. At the end of the day, this for me, a parent of school-aged children, is a clear example of how it IS possible for legislators on both sides of the aisle to rise above the partisan rancor and take the politics OUT of educational issues facing our state's future leaders.

If every invested organization, legislator, superintendent, voter can remove the politics from the debate over best practices, we may be able to put down the swords long enough to spare the educational future of our state's children. Because at the end of the day, it's their future we're all betting on. And the stakes have never been higher.

J. Davidson
Parent & Public Education Supporter

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"School tour has Sharpton, Gingrich promoting classroom innovation" ~Washington Post November 14, 2009

Sharpton, Gingrich Visiting BASIS ~ Arizona Republic, September 17, 2009

BASIS school lures Gingrich, Sharptom ~ Arizona Daily Star, September 15, 2009