The “educrats” lost sight of the mission.  Rod Paige and No Child Left Behind set the public schools back on course.

How will education change over the next four years? That is the question on many minds upon hearing that Rod Paige will be stepping down from his position as the Secretary of Education during President Bush’s next term in office.  Education Secretary Rod Paige was largely responsible for the No Child Left Behind Act, the result of which is more accountability and higher standards in public education. 

However, there is a larger, much more enduring legacy which he leaves to us; the propulsion of the School Choice movement to the forefront of a much broader base of people and into the mainstream population.  In and of itself, the idea of more school choice is enough reason to support NCLB.  However, it must be remembered that the most important justification for NCLB is that it is now unacceptable for public educators to employ bigotry in the form of low expectations.  School practices that threaten to leave children out of the education process must be addressed or parents are justified in pulling their kids out of their current educational setting and must be provided another environment — one better suited to their needs.  

The idea of NCLB is simple enough, but many unforeseen complications have been the result.  In some cases there aren’t enough schools meeting the minimal expectations for a public education, therefore there is nowhere to transfer if a school fails.  In other instances, a family doesn’t want to pull a child from a neighborhood school.  Finally, the NEA Teachers’ Union has launched a massive disinformation campaign blaming the schools’ failure to provide an adequate education on lack of federal funding, claiming that the mandate didn’t have enough dollars to fly.  Defending NCLB from those charges alone has been a full time job for the Department of Education.

Because parents understand that they should be allowed all possible options when it comes to educating our most precious resource — our children, many have begun to look outside of public institutions to be assured of the highest quality education offered today. 
The public education system has some options in the form of Magnet and Charter schools; however, these options depend on money earmarked for neighborhood schools and that has caused fighting over the beneficiary of the public purse.

It is my hope that the incoming Secretary of Education will continue to expand school choice options by embracing Universal Tuition Tax Credits.  These tax refunds would help cover the cost of an independent education when public education is not the best option for our children.  Economically disadvantaged children deserve the opportunity for a good education should they choose to take advantage of all the choices being offered.  Parents should not have to pay twice for their children’s education. 

By expanding school choice to include independent schools, market forces will push all educational institutions to embrace best teaching practices and compete for all eligible students.  Schools will have to provide the best value for the dollar. 

Education should not be taken for granted.  The “educrats” lost sight of the mission, Rod Paige and NCLB set the public schools back on course. This is his legacy — and it is a good one.