by Elenora Giddings Ivory

Education continues to be a crucial public policy issue to families and communities. How do we attain quality education for all of our children?

Congressperson Chaka Fattah (D-PA) has introduced HR 236, the Student Bill of Rights, in the House of Representatives. (Fattah represents Philadelphia, and has made quality public education one of his primary concerns.) Around 180 co-sponsors have joined him on the bill.

HR 236 addresses the inequity in the funding of public education. It charges "That a significant educational opportunity gap exists within states for low-income, urban, rural and suburban schools and that closing that gap is critical to the U.S. electoral process, economy, and national defense."

Rep. Fattah challenges the Bush Administration to fund its "No Child Left Behind Act by holding states accountable for providing all students access to the fundamentals of educational opportunity to ensure that all students receive educational opportunities that enable them to be participating, responsible citizens and to compete and succeed in a global economy."

Local property taxes provide the funds for our public education system. We already know that those students who live in wealthy districts have access to better educational facilities and resources as well as a productive student/teacher ratio.

In January, Rep. Fattah spoke at a gathering of religious leaders and National Education Association leaders. At that meeting, he told the group that if you are Latino or African American, you are more likely to have teachers who were not educated in the subject they are now teaching. Whereas, those schools in better-funded districts have a higher percentage of teachers who were trained in the field.

If the Fattah bill becomes law, all states would have to provide comparable educational services to all school districts in their state or risk losing 33.33 percent of administrative funds. The bill states that the fundamentals of quality education are to be met in the following places - teachers and principals; curricula; small classes; textbooks and materials; safe facilities and updated libraries; computers; and guidance counselors.

National Education Association (NEA) President, Reg Weaver, has advocated for full funding of the President's No Child Left Behind Act and an easing of its one-size-fits- all achievement testing of students. Both the No Child Left Behind program (NCLB) and the NEA have called for high educational standards, accountability of professionals and a focus on what works.

The NCLB and NEA similarities end there. What works-according to the NEA-are smaller class size and moving away from the singular testing system of the NCLB Act, which may not take into account the learning difficulties of particular children. The Administration was criticized by many advocacy groups for not adequately funding its own program.

The right to learn is perhaps the most fundamental right of all. If one is properly educated, there is a better chance that a livable standard of well-being can be attained that includes health care, nutrition, housing and further education for the children in the family.

A cynical view at the lack of quality education accorded to the poor in this country would say that there is a desire on the part of some to maintain an uneducated class of citizens and workers. I hope that we can overcome this thinking by pushing for support for this bill. Please write your letter of support to your member of Congress on this issue.

Race and Education

One of the underlying issues in public education has always been race. Education, housing and public accommodations are places were the U.S. society has tried to overcome racial discrimination. May 2004 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education case, where segregated education was found unlawful under the equal opportunity measures of the Constitution. This case over- turned the separate but equal practice that was made lawful in the 1892 Plessy v. Ferguson case.

Brown v. Board of Education held that it was unlawful for communities to provide segregated public services. Busing children to different neighborhoods was one way that communities have used to overcome previously segregated systems. As communities begin to relax these programs, we are seeing a return to segregation. The Civil Rights Project of Harvard University has released findings which indicate that re-segregation is becoming the norm in many communities. Once again, minority schools are getting fewer resources and trained teachers than are predominantly white schools.

Conclusion

It is never too late to communicate with your elected officials about the importance of education. This is a key campaign issue at the county, state and federal level. In this election year, advocates may not want to determine their voting selection based on one issue alone, even on an issue as important as public education. However, as you check a candidate's platform you may want to look at their views on education in your community and what they have planned for the children.

Action

Contact your member of the House and the Senate to let them know that you think a strong public education system is important. The Fattah bill suggests another way to fund education that is not just based on regional property taxes.

General Assembly

1987 Statement — PC(USA), pp. 479-486

A Call to Church Involvement in the Renewal of Public Education

Presbyterians are called to join others in their communities:

• to provide public schools that will secure for all children an education that develops their capacities to serve as creative and responsible persons in the common life, and
• to mobilize the resources available in each community-home, church, community organizations (both public and private) -that will support public schools and share in achieving the necessary education of children and youth.

Abiding Convictions

. . . Presbyterians come to the tasks of education with a number of long-held convictions:

• that an education of high quality for all children is an obligation of society and indispensable to the political and economic health of our democracy;
• that all children can learn if given the necessary attention and the resources of proper instruction to meet any special needs - whether handicapped, poor, or especially gifted and talented;
• that education is more than schooling and must be accepted as a responsible function of home, church, and community as well as public schools;
• that a responsible stewardship of God's gifts to all persons requires the provision of concern, attention, skills, and talents as well as material resources necessary to education of high quality for children and youth in our society;
• that God's concern is for all peoples of the world, and that public education must educate for global awareness and prepare students to work to remove barriers and live in a world marked by growing interdependence; and
• that clarity and consensus about goals of contemporary education are necessary prerequisites for school renewal.

A Call to Presbyterian Involvement in Support of Public Education

Presbyterians are called by God to ministries of healing and service to persons. As God's people we are enjoined in Scripture to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give care to the imprisoned. In our time, the needs of children and youth for new services that will provide wholeness in their education, growth, and development are especially evident. They are needs of life-giving or life-denying proportions.

Presbyterians in synods, presbyteries, and churches are called upon to:

4. Seek to have included in state and district public school policies and programs:

a. a clearly stated goal to provide education of high quality for all children, one that affirms the right of children with varied backgrounds and levels of preparation to be provided with appropriate conditions for learning;

b. a recognition that in addition to basic literacy and knowledge in math and science necessary to become employable in this era of history, students must be given opportunities...to develop critical thinking skills, and the ability to analyze causes and effects, so needed by an informed and thoughtful citizenry in a democratic society, and a global awareness for informed participation in an interdependent world;

c. an effort to involve students with teachers as active participants rather than passive recipients in the learning process, and the development of student expectations for self-directed, life-long learning;

d. provision for the development of aesthetic appreciation and skills in the arts, for address to the development of values in learning experiences, and for recognition of varied religious traditions in history and in contemporary cultures;

e. a design for active cooperation with parents in preparing children for schooling, and in creating and supporting goals concerning academic achievement appropriate for their children;

f. plans for cooperation among schools, churches, business enterprises, communications media, service agencies, neighborhood organizations, and other community groups that can enhance student capacities, provide some "hands-on" learning experiences and supplements while relating to classroom learning;

g. personnel policies and levels of compensation that attract and hold academically prepared leadership for the classroom and administrative services and give evidence of sensitivity to creating conditions that maximize the effective classroom instructional time of good teachers;

h. a recognition that testing is most effective in education when used primarily to diagnose and respond to student learning needs with the development of programs and assistance best suited to the special needs of some students, rather than as a tool for tracking, and to erect new barriers to learning opportunities that contribute to student discouragement and drop-out;

1. programs and facilities that allow accessibility for people with special needs.

5. Work to gain public acceptance and legislative action on funding policies that provide a tax support of public schools which utilizes the range of local, state, and federal sources necessary to ensure that funds for equal educational opportunities are available to all students without reference to resources in their place of residence.

Excerpts from the National Education Association Report "Status of the American Public School Teacher"

• The average teacher has 15 years of classroom experience and more than half of today's teachers (56 percent) hold a master's degree or six-year diploma. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) began full-time teaching within the last five years.
• Teachers spend an average of 50 hours per week on instructional duties, including an average of 12 hours each week on non-compensated school-related activities such as grading papers, bus duty, and club advising.
• More than three-quarters of teachers (77 percent) participated in system-sponsored professional development activities during the school year; more teachers than ever (35 percent) participated in such activities during the summer.
• Teachers spend an average of $443 of their own money each year to meet the needs of their students.
• Three-fifths of teachers (60 percent) said they would become teachers again. More than one-fifth (21 percent) said they would not choose teaching as a career if they could start over again.

Published by the Stewardship of Public Life (SPL) advocacy program of the Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 110 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, (202) 543-1126.