UPDATES

11.18.2008

PCE Gala:

Innovation has reshaped the world and every aspect of our lives. My children are here tonight. My youngest daughter, Tessa, is eight. (Record) When I was her age this is how I listened to my favorite music. Today this is a relic the thought of which makes my children chuckle because they use one of these (iTouch) to listen to their favorite tunes and to do so much more. Amazing isn’t it what brilliant minds, free-market principles, innovation, and competition can bring about in such a short period of time.

But when I compare my childhood experience with public education to that of my children, I find very little innovation has occurred. Little has changed with the methods of delivery, the curriculum, or the overall product in general. When I really tried to assess the differences, here’s what I came up with: My children no longer have to shower after gym class and they don’t get demerits for dirty gym clothes on Monday; they have more days off than I ever did due to weekly early-out days, compensatory recess, and teacher professional development days; instead of typing they learn computer keyboard skills, but very little curriculum is delivered by the use of technology; the role of parents remains primarily unchanged—PTA, Community Councils, class party coordinators—involvement that keeps parents busy but out of the business of deciding anything important about the education being delivered to their children.

Am I being harsh? You bet I am! While in every other aspect of our lives innovation has moved us forward into a 21st century global world, our method of delivering education here in the United States continues to operate under an outdated model leaving our children behind and woefully unprepared to compete in this global economy we live in. Astoundingly, this predicament we find ourselves in is far from new and has only been compounded in its’ level of seriousness as warning after warning has gone virtually unheeded and ignored.

One of the most profound warnings (and accompanying recommendations) came in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, created by the U.S. Secretary of Education under the Ronald Reagan administration. They were directed to examine the quality of education in the United States and make a report to the Nation. They titled the report ‘A Nation At Risk.’ The opening paragraph begins,

“Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. This report is concerned with only one of the many causes and dimensions of the problem, but it is the one that under girds American prosperity, security, and civility… the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur—others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves.”

On the 25th anniversary of this sobering report the American education system remains in a state of crisis. We are “A Nation STILL at Risk”. In 2008 the U.S. Department of Education released a report entitled, A Nation Accountable: Twenty-five Years After A Nation at Risk, stating:

“If we were “at risk” in 1983, we are at even greater risk now. The rising demands of our global economy, together with demographic shifts, require that we educate more students to higher levels than ever before. Yet, our education system is not keeping pace with these growing demands.”

The outcomes and accompanying statistics are startling not only from a National perspective but for Utah as well.

• In Math, the U.S. ranked 25th out of 30 industrialized nations and in Science, 21st out of 30 according to 2006 statistics from the National Center for Education.
• Known as "The Nation’s Report Card,” NAEP (which tests 4th, 8th, and 12th graders) is used by researchers and policymakers as the standard for measuring student achievement across the U.S. When test results are shown by ethnicity, Utah is consistently below average. Reading scores among Utah’s fourth-graders have remained virtually unchanged since 1992. On the 2007 NAEP writing test, Utah Hispanic students scored the lowest nationwide.
• According to the U.S. Department of Education, high school seniors score the same in math and reading as they did in 1971.
• 1 in 5, or 20% of 2008 graduates failed Utah's required high school exit exam, the Utah Basic Skills and Competency Test, which measures basic skills in three concept areas: reading, language arts, and mathematics.
• Although Utah has the 8th highest graduation rate in the nation, depending on whether you look at Education Week’s rates calculated using a nationwide standard, tracking 9th-12th grades or the Utah State Office of Education who tracks 10th-12th, you are still left with sobering graduation rates dipping below 70% for many Utah schools. Even when the tracking does not include 9th grade, there are several high schools where 25% of the graduating class has dropped out.
• Black and Hispanic males in Utah are more likely to dropout than graduate.
• Nearly 70% of Utah high school graduates take the ACT. Of those, only one quarter score high enough on all four parts of the exam to be considered college ready.
• The percentage of 18 to 24 year olds enrolled in college in Utah has dropped from 41% to 34% in the past 14 years.
• Utah ranks 47th in the nation in the number of college degrees conferred.

This sampling of statistics was intended to shock you. A Nation At Risk warned, “History is not kind to idlers. The world is indeed one global village. We live among determined, well-educated, and strongly motivated competitors.” The 2008 New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce reported, “The nation is running out of time. Forty years ago, the United States had the best-educated workforce in the world. Now we are number ten and falling.” Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But until we, the parents, taxpayers, business and community leaders and policymakers demand comprehensive solutions nothing will change.

Seven years ago, a few parents emerged on the political scene with an agenda to do exactly that—be a strong voice for innovation—demand solutions and excellence in education. They called themselves Parents for Choice in Education.

Their original mission remains our mission and passion today…

…We are dedicated to ensuring every child has equal access to a quality education by empowering parents, increasing choice, and promoting innovative solutions to Utah’s educational challenges.

In seven short years a fledgling group of committed parents went from wandering the halls of the state legislature to find any lawmaker who would listen to their ideas about empowering parents through school choice and innovation, to a very effective grassroots organization lobbying their way to the FIRST universal voucher program in the nation! In fact, you might say it was a shot heard around the Country. Certainly, it was a shot heard by the teacher’s unions, a group whose behavior across the nation repeatedly demonstrates an unwillingness to entertain any type of innovative, meaningful reform. The unions resist any threat to their fiefdoms. Any attempt at accountability is vehemently fought, and groups like ours who advocate for such are labeled "extremists" and "anti-public schools." Too many are too scared to take a stand. We are not.

LaVarr Webb, Deseret news columnist, had this to say in the March 11, 2007 edition of the Deseret Morning News,

“On the election front, the UEA still plays hardball and still wins a share of election battles. But today it’s not the only influential advocacy group. It has significant competition from the pro-school choice group, Parents for Choice in Education. Lawmakers targeted by the teachers’ union can count on some funding and campaign support by another major player.”

Now to avoid talking about vouchers would be refusing to acknowledge the big elephant in the room. But tonight I want to help you understand who Parents for Choice in Education really is. Yes, the passage of the voucher law was our most, shall I say, “lightning rod” success. And yes, we all know how it ended. When the Wright Brothers flew for the first time they went 120 feet and flew for 5 minutes. On its face we could say, “so what?’ But at that moment they changed the World. I think we probably flew about 120 feet for 5 minutes before the defeat of the law brought us back to the ground, but our brief flight changed the education debate here in Utah. It brought to light the crisis we face if we are not willing to embrace and implement innovative solutions to an education system that is failing many of our children.

My message to you tonight is this—Parents for Choice in Education is not just the “voucher organization”. We are much more than that and always have been. That is why on the morning after the defeat of the referendum we picked ourselves up by our bootstraps, dusted ourselves off, and began preparing our agenda for the 2008 legislative session.  We achieved innovative successes in education before the voucher law and went on in the wake of defeat last November to achieve substantial success as well.

We fill a vital role. Our vested interest in education is the success of our children. We are the counter voice. Without us the only other voice is the Education Establishment and the Teacher’s Union. It’s akin to leaving the fox to guard the hen house. My intent is not to disparage or be disrespectful of the many conscientious, caring individuals within the establishment, but to put it bluntly we are ‘A Nation At Risk’ for a reason. If I might be so bold as to quote our honored guest, Mr. Stossel, “Government monopolies routinely fail their customers.”

Tonight I thank all of you for supporting us. Some of you are long time soldiers, some of you are learning about us for the first time. I issue to each of you a call to action and ask you to please join together with us in our efforts…

Samuel Adams said, "It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

In the report A Nation At Risk the commission issued a message to parents. “You have the right to demand for your children the best our schools and colleges can provide. Your vigilance and your refusal to be satisfied with less than the best are the imperative first step.”

As parents, citizens, and taxpayers it is not only our right but also our responsibility to steer the direction of our children's educations. They are our future. They deserve every opportunity to become the innovators, entrepreneurs, and future leaders of tomorrow. We must be involved and informed. We must demand a voice and continue to seek meaningful solutions. Parents for Choice in Education will continue to be that voice, we will continue to advocate for every child to have equal access to a quality education, we will continue to advance initiatives that empower parents, and we will continue to seek innovative solutions to Utah’s educational challenges.

I want to share a final admonition by the Commission, “Part of what is at risk is the promise first made on this continent: All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost. This promise means that all children by virtue of their own efforts, competently guided, can hope to attain the mature and informed judgment needed to secure gainful employment, and to manage their own lives, thereby serving not only their own interests but also the progress of society itself.”

WEBSITE

Now I have the great pleasure of unveiling our latest project.

This project has been a labor of love and a tremendous amount of hard work. A critical part of our mission is to empower. In my remarks, you heard me say that the only way education will improve is if the public demands it. In order to do so we must be informed. Knowledge is power. Without comprehensive information we cannot affect change as a community, state, or country, let alone for our own children.

As was demonstrated in our video, our experience with the referendum taught us that citizens were not armed with basic information about our public education system, so we decided to do something to change that. We have tried to put together a comprehensive resource, a warehouse of information if you will, that lays out and links to the education information the public needs in order to be informed enough to become empowered.

We have developed a website, UtahEducationFacts.com. As the homepage states, “Utah Education Facts is THE one-stop source for empowering information about our K-12 education system.”

There you will find information on what public education costs you, spending, school performance, school options, test scores, graduation rates, the future of K-12, how to get involved, how to follow education bills, class size, teacher salaries, the achievement gap, best public education bargains, community resources and on and on and on.

I invite you to check it out for yourselves. At this very moment it goes live as a public service provided by PCE. Our hope is that Utah Education Facts will become a valuable tool for parents, students, taxpayers, policymakers, business and community leaders, educators and all citizens of Utah. If you like what you see, we ask you to share the link with everyone you know.