PR for People Monthly September 2021 September 2021 | Page 9

working in his own “laboratory of democracy” as Governor of California, was one of drastic budget cutbacks, overcrowded classrooms, demoralized teachers and deteriorating test scores.

   Ah, test scores. Over the last half century, standardized testing has become big business – the tool for measuring whether a child’s education has produced the expected outcomes.

   The No Child Left Behind Act, advanced by President George W. Bush in 2001, was a revision of the Lyndon Johnson-era Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It required better accountability from schools, and even established punitive measures for institutions that didn’t produce enough students with satisfactory test scores. But over time it became clear that some of NCLB’s prescriptive requirements were more onerous than they were helpful, and that testing requirements were dominating the school calendar. A 2014 survey of large school districts revealed that students were subjected to an average of 113 standardized tests over the course of their pre-K through 12th grade education. The constant cycle of test prep and test taking was sucking the spontaneity and joy out of both teaching and learning.

   The law was revised again in 2015 under President Barack Obama. The Every Student Succeeds Act continued to measure progress and uphold an expectation of accountability, but stepped back from micromanaging to allow for more state-developed plans to improve instruction, increase equity and close any achievement gaps.

   Now it is Joe Biden’s turn to try to shape the nation’s approach toward education. Instead of talking about test scores or vouchers, he is focusing on reversing what more and more people are coming to recognize has been our country’s history of inequitable access to education and opportunity due to racism, poverty, and other factors. This President agrees with a rising tide of scholars and activists that while this history is measured by decades and centuries, it continues to be manifested today in ongoing generational trauma.

   Biden’s Build Back Better strategies for education are woven into his infrastructure bills. He calls for investments in physical infrastructure, ensuring that schools have funding for needed repairs, electrified buses, updating antiquated HVAC and plumbing systems, and installing broadband and tech-ready labs.

   And there’s also the human infrastructure to consider: providing child care, bus drivers, school counselors, school nurses and social workers, along with  more professional development for educators. Biden’s plan also recognizes the need to address teacher shortages, to develop more teachers of color, and to expand the pool of teachers who are trained to work with multilingual learners and students with disabilities.

   To address the equity piece, Biden notes the importance of recruiting a diverse group of teachers and staff to do this work so that all students can see these important adults in their lives as role models and inspiration.

   The President also proposes increasing Pell Grant amounts to make college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, especially at Tribal Colleges and Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other minority-serving institutions.

   In July, Secretary Cardona hosted the first installment of an Equity Summit Series, which brought in the perspectives of educators around the country, from White Plans, New York to Walla Walla, Washington. 

   “Equity is not a passing buzzword, but an ongoing, continuous effort to make sure that every student feels supported in their classrooms and in every educational environment,” Cardona told summit attendees. He promised that ideas around equity would be infused in all the work at the Education Department and across the Administration for the next four years.

   These investments don’t come cheap.

   “As an educator, I know we've gotten used to doing more with less,” Cardona said. With the Build Back Better agenda, he said, “we can turn the page on that mentality.”

   The Biden administration maintains that after living through the trauma of a global pandemic, and with ongoing climate change disruptions and a domestic situation that has repeatedly been rocked by shocking displays of racism, fascism and violence, our society and especially our kids need investments that are targeted toward stabilizing and improving American lives.

 

Barbara Lloyd McMichael is a freelance writer living in the Pacific Northwest.