Education Reform Begins with LESS Government; More Local Accountability

By Representative Brian L. Baker

President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nearest thing to eternal life on this earth is a government program.”

The federal government continues to grant eternal life, pork-spend, grow new programs, and expand failed programs. One of the reasons this is the case is that politicians are looking for feathers to place in that re-election cap.

However, it is time to face the reality that big government simply does not improve the American dream. This is especially true in the area of education. Washington DC cannot create an education plan where “one shoe-size” fits every state education system. It is unrealistic and poor stewardship of tax-payer dollars.

Further, no party – Republican or Democrat – has developed a national plan that really works and is effective. The cry of Education Reform has become more of a political chess move, rather than addressing real solutions.

The NCLB Plan (No Child Left Behind) simply is not realistic. The phrase is great…and we all love to cheer “Leave No Child Behind.” However, all NCLB has done is create the largest bureaucratic infringement on states rights in recent history. Teachers and educators are spending more time than ever trying to meet federal regulations requirements. Schools have to hire staff just to be experts on NCLB law and make sure they are following all the federal regulations or they lose funding.

Common sense would dictate that what works in California will not work in Missouri. What works in Texas will not work in Iowa.

Further, NCLB takes illogical approaches to assessments. Taking one third grade class…testing them…and then expecting next year’s third grade class to excel past that glass in testing and assessment is ludicrous. Even private schools do not assess in such a manner. They track the individual development of the students.

NCLB says that if a third grader comes to your school with a first grade reading level, and the school helps that student get to a second grade reading level in one year, they failed because they did not get that student to a third grade level. Yet, that student did show significant progress. Expecting a teacher to jump a student forward two or three years is not a high standard, but simply a set-up for failure.

Education should be a local community and state issue. Each state should set their own standards and local school districts, partnering with the state, should meet the needs of the families and students in their state.

Missouri voters, Missouri families, and Missouri communities know how best to reach and teach their students. We simply do not need Washington DC bureaucracy trying to define who we are as state. Nor do we need them to regulate our schools to meet DC standards.

Critics of this idea will say we need accountability. Let the states stand accountable to the voters. The states can define their own standards, their own goals, and remain accountable to the voters. Let the states decide their educational policies and stand before the voters.

Voters elect school boards. They elect local state-representatives and local state-senators. Our state should decide what is best for our children. Let us decide our standards. Let us decided how to meet the needs of our children with special needs!

NCLB regulations have increased administrative costs to Missouri’s Department of Education. They have increased administrative costs to our public schools. In fact, the list of federal regulations on our public schools is longer than our state regulations by at least 2-1.

In 1996 Congress created the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act. The goal if this act was to use the Small Business Office of Advocacy (SBA) to reduce regulations on small businesses. Why? It is a proven fact that over-burdensome regulations hurt small businesses and hurt jobs.

The SBA released research in 2005 that finds that the cost of federal regulations totals $1.1 trillion; the cost per employee for firms with fewer than 20 employees is $7,647 in regulatory costs. Further, the SBA states that in 2001 their office was able to reduce regulations to small businesses that saved small businesses $4 billion nationally.

The same concept applies to schools. If we believe that big government is bad for business what makes us think it is good for schools?

More regulation increases cost, increases the need for administrators, taxes the time of teachers, and increases bureaucracy. Instead of spending money on government bureaucracy and DC bureaucrats, each state could be using these federal tax dollars to increase teacher salaries, reduce burdensome regulations, set our own standards, and give states their due right to decide their own future. Send our federal dollars back to the states and let us decide how to meet the needs of our students.

How many DC bureaucrats have actually toured Missouri schools, urban schools, rural schools, and talked with Missouri families?

Let the states compete. Let their standards stand against another. Let competition thrive. Let’s return to a discussion on state’s rights…and local government control.

Please note, I am not advocating the elimination of testing or meeting standards. Let states set their standards, decide best how to meet those standards, and test for accountability. We will answer to our citizens and our voters for our success.

Our new Congress has an opportunity to lead. Get rid of the big government bureaucracy, let states decide their own future, and let the states compete. If we really believe in small government and less regulation and more freedom…then logic says change!