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Send this letter to our presidential candidates.
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Dear (Candidate):
I know this letter finds you in the midst of a challenging battle for your party's nomination. And I know you've had a lot of issues to consider, including the war in Iraq, the economy, terrorism, and health care.
Still, there's one issue vital to our nation's security, prosperity and future that you, for all of your good intentions, have barely discussed in any of your debates or stump speeches. That issue is education.
Nearly 50 million of our nation's children attend public schools, yet neither you nor any of your fellow candidates in either major party have spent much time talking about what you would do about public education, save perhaps to say that the No Child Left Behind Act is not really working very well.
The need for you to tell us what you will do if elected to reform our public schools has never been greater. Only 74 percent of students in high school graduate on time (within four years) with a regular diploma. Native American, Latino, and African American young people have little more than a 50 percent chance of getting a high school diploma. These are abysmal figures for a land in which public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and our prosperity.
Here are five key questions I have for you regarding public education (and maybe you saw these in the op-ed recently published in USA Today by Public Education Network President Wendy D. Puriefoy):
School safety is a huge concern in many cities. How will you ensure that children attend schools that are places of teaching and learning, not violence and crime? Teacher recruitment, retention and quality are major problems in many public school districts. How will you work to make teaching a more attractive career? A child who cannot read nor do math to grade level has little hope of finishing high school. What will you do to make sure children master all subjects, including science and social studies, to grade level? The obligation to educate all our nation's children falls on each American, even if only 25 percent of Americans have school-age children. From your presidency's bully pulpit, what will you do to persuade more voters, including those without kids, to become more involved in the education of their communityﾒs children? In the not too distant past, public education quality was a major issue for candidates and presidents alike. The problems we face as a country today are far more serious than those we faced 50 years ago when the Soviets launched Sputnik and Americans demanded improvements to our education system. Surely you can see how a quality public education system that is open and available to all children is even more necessary in today's world.
I look forward to hearing what you have to say about public education reform. Our nation's future security and prosperity depend upon your answers.
Sincerely,
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