NABSE'S
GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE FEDERAL ROLE IN EDUCATION:
The
National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), a nonprofit organization
with more than 7,000 members, is the largest network of African-American
educators dedicated to improving the educational accomplishments of
African-American youth.
To realize the full importance of NABSE’s mission, one needs only
to consider the following statistics: Nearly 53 percent of African
Americans are under the age of 30, nearly 40 percent are under the age
of 20, and 10 percent are under the age of 5. These age groups span
the educational spectrum from preschool to doctoral programs. As long
as African-American participation in education falls below that of the
general population, it places the future of this community and the fabric
of our nation at risk.
We understand that the Constitution is silent on the federal role in
education and leaves responsibility for the education of its citizens
to the states. Yet we strongly believe that the role of the federal
government in education is clearly proclaimed in the Fourteenth Amendment.
The framers’ basic aim, we believe, was to preserve the rights
of citizens from discriminatory action at the hands of the state. We
take that to mean preserving those rights socially, politically, and
financially. In reality, if Congress and the executive branch do not
assume the role of providing equity for access and equal protection
to all students what business do they have in education?
In
an era driven by the language of accountability, standards, and choice,
and an era inadequate in reducing inequities in learning and to achievement,
the words of Thomas Jefferson take on added meaning for those who advocate
for African-American children. Jefferson stated, “We should
build an aristocracy of achievement based on a democracy of opportunity.”
-
We agree with the current voices in Congress who discuss the federal
role in education as one of providing support to the states and to
the local communities. But we do not agree that the federal role is
simply to disburse dollars to states and localities to use freely
at the wishes and whims of the governors.
-
We applaud the efforts of the Congress and of the current administration
to look at research as a lever for informing and influencing policy
and legislation. But we would request that Congress review all
research, in a bipartisan way, not just research that supports
a particular perspective.
-
We support accountability. In fact we believe that schooling for all
students should be geared toward high-quality and rigorous standards.
However, we observe that standards and accountability have become
equated with measures and initiatives that impose a retributive penalties
framework rather than a supportive framework.
-
We support choice for parents that
is within the public sector; including public charter and magnet
schools. However, we are concerned that each state recognize and
consider the extent to which the state’s
policies and support of charter schools, are in fact parallel systems.
-
We support federal legislative language
that maintains the state’s
“statutory and constitutional” role of responsibility for
its citizens’ education at the local level. However, we advocate
that states and local institutions be held accountable for all of
our citizens’ civil rights.
-
We argue that public schools and
public education historically have been the bedrock of our country’s
robust democratic institutions. We therefore believe that among
the federal roles the ideal of equity must remain paramount. Excellence is undermined if equity is ignored.
-
We support full funding for Title I. It has been carefully documented
that Title I is currently meeting the needs of one-third of the eligible
students nationwide. We will not discuss here in any detail the barrage
of comments that label Title I as a failure. We are able to respond
with compelling evidence that Title I (as a funding stream; it is
not a program) has demonstrated substantial progress for a significant
number of poverty-stricken students. (See The Unfinished Agenda: Full
Funding for Title I).
-
We expect that no high-stakes construct will be put in place until
there are more advances in high stakes resources that provide equitable
and educational-relevant resources for all needy districts, schools
and students.
-
We recommend the continuation of funding for technical assistance
to help low-performing schools.
