wfn.org | Secretary of Education invites NCC delegation

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

NCC delegation meets with U.S. Secretary of Education
on the need to provide equal education to all children

>See www.ncccusa.org/news/100602duncan.html

Washington, June 2, 2010 -- A delegation of the National Council of  Churches 
met with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other  officials Monday to 
express concerns about the Education Department's  "Race to the Top" initiative 
and the Obama Administration's "blueprint"  for the reauthorization of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Duncan requested the meeting following the issuance last month of a  pastoral 
letter to the President and Congress on proposed education  reforms. The letter 
was adopted unanimously by the NCC's Governing Board  at its May 2010 meeting. 
(See  http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100519pastoralletter.html)

Members of the NCC delegation were National Council of Churches  President, the 
Rev. Peg Chemberlin; former NCC President, the Rev.  Michael Livingston; the 
Rev. Garland F. Pierce, NCC Associate General  Secretary, Education and 
Leadership Ministries; Jan Resseger, chair of  the NCC's Committee on Public 
Education and Literacy and on the staff of  the United Church of Christ Justice 
and Witness Ministries; and Bob  Francis, a member of the Public Education and 
Literacy Committee and  Director for Domestic Policy in the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church in  America's Washington Office.

Joining Secretary Duncan were Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for  Civil 
Rights, and Peter Groff, Director of the Center for Faith-Based  and 
Neighborhood Partnerships in the Department of Education.

The NCC's pastoral letter urged the nation's leaders to help craft a  system of 
education that looks upon children as unique and valuable  individuals rather 
than "products to be tested." The letter cautioned  politicians against 
scapegoating principals and teachers when schools  fall short of arbitrary 
goals.

The letter noted that Federal policy is encouraging states to rapidly  expand 
school choice through charter schools. However, the letter raised  the question 
whether or not market based reforms, while they may  increase educational 
opportunity for a few children or even for some  groups of children, introduce 
more equity into the system itself.  

The NCC delegation said Duncan welcomed the group and appeared to listen  
carefully to their concerns. Both the Secretary's group and the NCC  delegation 
affirmed their shared commitment to civil rights and equal  access by all 
citizens to a quality education.

Assistant Secretary Ali said her office was re-energizing the  department's 
commitment to civil rights and asked that any civil rights  violations be 
reported to her. President Chemberlin said the NCC will  encourage its member 
churches to report violations.

Duncan told the delegation that the status quo in many schools is  
unsatisfactory and steps need to be taken to address that. He said the  firing 
of principals and teachers should be the "last line of change,  not the first."

Standardized tests alone are not a satisfactory measure of progress,  Duncan 
said, "but they must be part of the equation" of assessing  improvements in 
schools.

Regarding charter schools, Duncan admitted, "I do believe that good  charter 
schools are a part of the solution, bad charter schools are part  of the 
problem," but he said "they are a very small part of the larger  issue." Even 
so, members of the NCC delegation are concerned that the  issue of charter 
schools will loom large in urban education.

The NCC delegation made the following points to the Secretary:

- A good society must balance the needs of each particular child and  family 
with the need to create a system that secures the rights and  addresses the 
needs of all children.

- Persistent support and assistance remains society's best strategy for  
raising achievement in the schools that are struggling. The delegation  has 
serious reservations about turn-around models in "Race to the Top,"  and 
rejects the current dependence on standardized testing.

- Federal leadership is needed to address long-standing resource  inequality 
across states. The U.S. government must allocate resources  for equal treatment 
of children and press states to close gaps in  opportunities offered to 
children.

- While competitive, market-based measures may increase educational  
opportunity for a few children, the concern is that they do not  introduce more 
equality into the system.

- We must work together to eliminate policies that blame public school  
teachers for many problems beyond their control. The Race to the Top  
"turnaround model" that fires principals and staff in struggling schools  
without evaluating their performance constitutes scapegoating and tosses  out 
professionals society cannot afford to  lose.                     

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of  Christ in 
the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation  among Christians 
in the United States. The NCC's member faith groups --  from a wide spectrum of 
Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical,  historic African American and 
Living Peace churches -- include 45  million persons in more than 100,000 local 
congregations in communities  across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 
(cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org www.ncccusa.org