Idea Whose Time Has Come: ‘Straight A’s’

This week, the GOP’s congressional leadership introduced a new education proposal, the Academic Achievement for All Act (“Straight A’s”), that is philosophically bold, educationally promising and politically smart.

Straight A’s would provide participating states and school districts sweeping exemptions from federal rules and red tape so long as there is measurable improvement in student achievement. Participating states would submit to the federal government a “performance agreement,” akin to a school’s charter, which would set specific academic performance goals to be met within five years. Straight A’s states--or districts, should a state forgo this option--could use their federal education dollars--$240 million a year in the average state--to advance their own reform priorities (e.g., reduced class size, more charter schools, improved teacher training or new textbooks and computers). Those states that produce the promised results would get their “performance agreement” renewed and earn a bonus. Those that fail would be thrown back into the regulatory briar patch.

The Straight A’s legislation is significant because it offers an authentic break with 3 1/2 decades during which power and influence flowed from the states and toward Washington. The strongest advocate for the current approach is the Clinton administration, which seeks greater central planning and control. The president’s plan would place federal enforcers in charge of practically every aspect of the country’s 86,000 public schools, including academic goals, promotion policies, teacher assignments, class sizes, discipline practices and much more. It represents the most audacious power grab in the history of American education.

This is precisely the wrong way to go. The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the present programs have failed to attain their most basic goals. And if you want to know just how poorly American students are doing under the current regime, consider the results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. American 12th graders ranked 19th out of 21 participating nations in mathematics, 16th out of 21 in science, 15th out of 16 in advanced math and 16th out of 16 in advanced physics. Yet, the guardians of the old system continue to defend unproved policies and pernicious practices.

It would be dishonest to suggest that enacting Straight A’s will correct all the major problems plaguing American education. We must also bear in mind that federal spending on education is still only a small slice of the country’s total K-12 school budget.

Nevertheless, the Straight A’s proposal is promising because under it the federal government would align itself with many of the best ideas in American education: greater accountability, more choice, more competition, higher standards. It would help reform-minded governors like Florida’s Jeb Bush, Texas’ George W. Bush, Michigan’s John Engler and California’s Gray Davis by allowing them to incorporate their states’ federal aid into their innovative education agendas. It would remove burdensome federal regulations. And for the first time, states that narrow the gap between the most- and least-advantaged children would receive a fiscal reward. Thus Straight A’s would begin to correct a basic structural flaw in American education; namely, a system in which there is no reward for excellence and no penalty for failure.

Straight A’s is also politically smart. Until now, congressional Republicans have been playing defense on education. They have been accused of being enemies of public education, people with few good ideas, scant interest in kids and no overarching philosophy. Straight A’s offers a compelling rebuttal to these charges. It is positive and reform-minded, yet rooted in conservative principles. It is on the side of efforts to advance authentic social justice, such as Florida’s recent move to allow low-income children trapped in horrible public schools to attend private schools instead. And it is an idea that is easily understood: more freedom in return for better academic achievement. That’s a pretty good education slogan to run on and win with.

There is one other benefit to be had from the opportunity being created by Straight A’s: Most legislation these days, even competing legislation, does not involve rigorous debate about fundamentally different governing philosophies. This issue is different. Congress now has a choice between two very different conceptions of the federal role in K-12 schooling. That’s a big debate, vital to the future of American education.