Spiropoulos: Barresi Key To Education Reform
By Andrew Spiropoulos
January 15, 2014
We live in extraordinary and challenging times. We are in the midst of the knowledge revolution. The greatest wealth is no longer produced by those who own and labor in factories, farms and mines. Our economic leaders work wonders with their brains and knowledge.
Your children’s destiny is largely decided by how well they are educated. The middle class is stuck in economic mud. The working class faces unprecedented levels of economic and social dysfunction because too many of us are poorly educated. We have neither the knowledge nor skills to compete with the top of the class. It’s one thing to lose out to better-educated Americans. In a global economy, however, our poorly educated people are being eclipsed by the millions overseas who crack the books and refuse to fail.
Certainly, we are overtaxed and overregulated. A wise government would fix both. Nothing, however, is more important than reforming our failed system of education. Our much-lamented problems of diminished social mobility, the decline of working-class males, and increasing class polarization stem from our ineffective system of public education. Any serious political party or movement must set education reform as its highest policy priority.
An urgent need for change makes the decision of a group of Republican legislators to oppose the re-election of state Superintendent of Education Janet Barresi an appalling betrayal for education reform, as well as conservatism.
Here are the facts. Our state’s education system is a well-documented disaster. We score poorly on every national and international exam. Every serious study, no matter the organization or agency, finds our student achievement to be among the worst in the nation. Most educators insist that the problem is that we don’t give them enough money, despite the fact that we have exponentially increased education spending in the last three decades and have seen no significant benefit.
Many of us despaired that the entrenched education establishment would continue to stymie any reform effort. Then, thanks to the epic unpopularity of President Barack Obama, conservatives finally captured the office of superintendent of education. All the legislative reforms in the world won’t matter if you don’t have a superintendent of education who is brave enough to implement them.
Say what you will about Barresi, but she has demonstrated the courage to take on the vicious and powerful education establishment and its legislative lackeys. When some got squeamish about implementing the bipartisan Achieving Classroom Excellence graduation requirements and exams, she pushed forward and fought those who would water down the reforms. Knowing she would be attacked at every turn, she took the lead in installing the state’s first evaluation system for schools and school districts that every citizen could understand. Most importantly, reformers can count on Barresi to faithfully implement, and not undermine, school choice reforms.
Make no mistake about it. The education establishment is coming after Barresi. If they take her down, no one will dare take them on for years. Anyone who says they are for reform but against Barresi is fooling himself or lying to you. We are in a war for our children’s future. The choice is clear. Either you stand with those who are fighting for change or you help plunge another generation of our children into the unforgiving abyss of mediocrity.
Andrew C. Spiropoulos is a professor of law at the Oklahoma City University School of Law and the Milton Friedman Distinguished Fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.