2008 Woodie Awards
Democrats Get Smart with Hamilton Project
Melinda Ritchie
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Opinions
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The Democrats are finally getting smart, not to mention bold, on the issue of education. The Bush administration had them beat with the only real show in town, No Child Left Behind. The only opposition offered was the cry to simply put more money into education. In an effort to combat the Bush plan, Democrats had refused to acknowledge the merits of No Child Left Behind's design and called for the simplistic and inefficient solution of pumping up education funding.
The basic idea behind the Democrats' new education plan, called the Hamilton Project, is to reward good teachers and to get rid of incompetent ones. As David Wessel explains in his recent Wall Street Journal article "It's the Teachers, Stupid," the new plan is based on ideas which recognize that pumping money into bad teachers is just a waste of resources and will not produce a good educational system. The Democrats are taking on a practical approach by rejecting practices such as offering lifetime tenure to teachers after only two or three years and by emphasizing test scores and other similar resulting indicators as a way of evaluating teachers. Antonia Cortese, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, concludes, "There ought to be a close look at what teachers are doing in those years." In other words, teachers who do not produce quality results should not be granted lifetime tenure. It's really just common sense.
Democrats base the new plan on research done on Los Angeles schools. The student performance under the worst teachers was grossly different from that under the best teachers. Furthermore, the research suggests that it can be clear whether a teacher is competent or not after two to three years of evaluation. Other aspects of the new plan include bonuses for the top teachers as well as teaching positions for qualified college graduates who do not have teaching certificates.
Advocates say the plan will be much more cost-effective, which adds a great deal of appeal to the program for the general public. This resource efficiency had been a missing but necessary factor for Democratic Party proposals in the past.
"While Democrats reinforced the old idea that they just want to spend, Bush appealed to a public that wants both accountability and funding," Kerry-Edwards domestic policy wonk Robert Gordon stated. "It's stunning to see Democrats lose their edge on education. ... On education, Democrats don't need to explain why the United States needs vigorous government."
Furthermore, the new plan is especially significant because it confronts a major member of the Democratic base: the teachers' unions. Not only are the Democrats taking on a more practical approach to education, but they are pursuing bold politics as well.
The basic idea behind the Democrats' new education plan, called the Hamilton Project, is to reward good teachers and to get rid of incompetent ones. As David Wessel explains in his recent Wall Street Journal article "It's the Teachers, Stupid," the new plan is based on ideas which recognize that pumping money into bad teachers is just a waste of resources and will not produce a good educational system. The Democrats are taking on a practical approach by rejecting practices such as offering lifetime tenure to teachers after only two or three years and by emphasizing test scores and other similar resulting indicators as a way of evaluating teachers. Antonia Cortese, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, concludes, "There ought to be a close look at what teachers are doing in those years." In other words, teachers who do not produce quality results should not be granted lifetime tenure. It's really just common sense.
Democrats base the new plan on research done on Los Angeles schools. The student performance under the worst teachers was grossly different from that under the best teachers. Furthermore, the research suggests that it can be clear whether a teacher is competent or not after two to three years of evaluation. Other aspects of the new plan include bonuses for the top teachers as well as teaching positions for qualified college graduates who do not have teaching certificates.
Advocates say the plan will be much more cost-effective, which adds a great deal of appeal to the program for the general public. This resource efficiency had been a missing but necessary factor for Democratic Party proposals in the past.
"While Democrats reinforced the old idea that they just want to spend, Bush appealed to a public that wants both accountability and funding," Kerry-Edwards domestic policy wonk Robert Gordon stated. "It's stunning to see Democrats lose their edge on education. ... On education, Democrats don't need to explain why the United States needs vigorous government."
Furthermore, the new plan is especially significant because it confronts a major member of the Democratic base: the teachers' unions. Not only are the Democrats taking on a more practical approach to education, but they are pursuing bold politics as well.