wfn.org | Educator encourages advocacy for school reform

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 8, 2003  News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-71B{206}

NOTE: This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #205.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS) - Grass-roots advocacy is essential for continued
school reform, according to a longtime educator.

David Hornbeck, chairman and founding counsel for Good Schools Pennsylvania,
a nonprofit coalition dedicated to public education reform, spoke during the
April 4-7 meeting of the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries. He was named in March as the new president and chief executive
officer of the International Youth Foundation.

The Women's Division, which oversees United Methodist Women, launched Phase
III of its Campaign for Children in 2002, with a focus on public school
education. Each UMW unit is urged to connect with local schools "and to
explore ways to effectively promote quality, safe and accessible public
education for every child."

Hornbeck offered a quick overview of school reform, starting in 1954, when
the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Brown v. the Board of Education opened the
door to school integration. Subsequent educational changes included adoption
of Title I, the report on "A Nation at Risk," and the move toward
establishing state testing standards during the 1990s.

The recertification of Title I in 1994, with test standards at the center,
created the framework for the National Education Act, also known as "No Child
Left Behind," he said.

Under the act, schools are not considered to have met standards unless all
groups of children - not just an average of all students - have met the
specified performance level. Parental involvement and quality teaching also
are emphasized.

Institutions affected by the new criteria of what is considered "failing" are
not just the obvious ones, Hornbeck pointed out to directors. When he served
as superintendent of the Philadelphia school system, a school that was
considered highly desirable was put on the failing list. Although the
required average was good, students at the bottom of the academic rung had
not shown improvement.

"For years, Greenfield (school) had masked the absence of the staff's
performance with these youngsters by improving the performance of the kids
who were going to do well," he explained. The next year, he added, Greenfield
exceeded performance targets for the bottom-level students.

Although Hornbeck said No Child Left Behind "represents a significant leap
forward" in public education, it faces a lack of funding for carrying out its
goals. Another problem is that the local school or school district, not the
state, is held accountable for meeting the goals. The result, he said, is
that some districts, often in urban areas, must struggle to reach the same
level of achievement as their better-funded suburban counterparts.

He lauded the suggested education advocacy actions of the UMW Campaign for
Children. "Your advocacy is essential to the unmet needs, and this act
sharpens the definitions of the unmet needs," he said.

But an infrastructure for such advocacy is essential, Hornbeck told
directors. He believes that the concept demonstrated by Good Schools
Pennsylvania, a grass-roots focus on improved public education, could
translate effectively to other states.

The National Council of Churches is part of the founding council of Good
Schools Pennsylvania, and all three United Methodist annual (regional)
conferences in the state have been active participants in the coalition. Good
Schools also has 20 college and 45 high school chapters. This year, the
coalition is sponsoring 50 legislative action days in the Pennsylvania state
capital between Jan. 26 and June 30.

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United Methodist News Service
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