Vote for new ideas on education board
by Jackson Citizen PatriotTuesday October 28, 2008, 8:04 AM
The following is a Jackson Citizen Patriot editorial for October 28:
The state Board of Education has been a voice for change for public education in at least one respect. It promoted tougher standards that Michigan high-school students now face to earn a diploma. The board deserves kudos for expecting more of our children.
Voters, too, should expect more of this board when they go to the polls next week. Two Democratic incumbents, board Chair Kathleen Straus and John Austin, face challenges from Republicans who say the Board of Education must move more nimbly to tackle the major issues facing public education.
We agree and recommend voters re-elect John Austin, who wants the board to pick up the pace, and also elect Republican Scott Jenkins.
Jenkins knows the board well from serving as education policy adviser to then-Gov. John Engler. Personally, he is invested in Michigan's schools as the parent of a 10th-grader and an eighth-grader.
Jenkins worries that the board lacks focus. He supports the graduation requirements but maintains that the board must play a leadership role to be sure the standards are not watered down. At the same time, he says the board must look hard at such issues as training teachers, charter schools and helping the worst-performing schools.
Austin, elected in 2000, notes the board has made strides in other areas. He says it pushed teacher training and new curriculum standards that start in kindergarten.
He acknowledges that the board must do more. Austin would focus on school performance and accountability when results are sub-standard.
Straus does not lack for ideas. She supports some form of incentives to draw more people to teach math and science. She would like to see looser federal rules under No Child Left Behind that give schools credit for students who finish high school in five years, rather than four.
Still, Straus has served on the board for 16 years. And while we do not suggest term limits here, we are reluctant to endorse her for another eight years. She has not pushed the board aggressively as chair, and voters here have sound alternatives.
There is a fourth candidate, Republican Richard Zeile, the headmaster of a small Lutheran school in Detroit. He offers good ideas, such as having the board look more closely at student performance to identify what steps to take. However, he is the least-experienced choice.
The Board of Education has moved forcefully on one important issue, graduation requirements. It needs a nudge to take on other difficult issues. The public can help that happen by voting for John Austin and Scott Jenkins.
— Jackson Citizen Patriot
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