Back to the Future (with all due respect to Hollywood)
I spoke with Bob Mooneyham, the executive director of the National Rural Education Association, today, and came away with some things to ponder.
Now, I’ll say from the get-go that I’m not gonna take the time to compare test score trends from a decade ago to today’s to post in a blog. But I may revisit the topic for a future story.
By Mooneyham’s reckoning, the one-size-fits-all formula of No Child Left Behind Act actually stifled progress Oklahoma and other states already were making — in some cases, had been making for some time.
I’ve heard this argument before; I just didn’t realize it may apply here. Typically, those who must implement NCLB prefer to focus on the progress the state has made since its passage than the progress that could have been made (or perhaps not made) had the state been left to continue doing what it had been doing.
I’m sure the law puts them in an odd place — defending accountability measures with which they may justifiably disagree – but that’s nothing new for public servants.
I can’t say I have ever picked up on this from state education officials, but I can’t imagine it’s not at least somewhat true. Push for (or fight against, as the case may be) reforms only to see them pre-empted by federal law.
“It changed the reforms that were already in place,” Mooneyham said of the 2001 act that required a range of targets for schools and districts to meet. “If anything, the one-size-fits-all strategy of No Child Left Behind was counterproductive,” he said.
Was Oklahoma making more progress before NCLB than it is now? Is it making enough progress now? How would things have been different had NCLB not been introduced?
I don’t know the answers to these questions but am curious about what others think. Click on my name to e-mail me or call me at (405) 475-3364.
Shop-nanza
Kohl’s department store opened at 8 a.m. today, an hour early. But customers started lining up at 7:30.
When I got there a few hours later, the store was busy, but not packed with shoppers, probably because many people had to work today.
Not Abby Thomas. The mom of two took off work today to beat the crowds and save money on school clothes. She was joined by her mother, Carol Smith, who was buying clothes for four grandkids. The sales tax savings, 8.35 percent at this store on Northwest Expressway, was icing on the cake, she said. That’s because every item in the store was on sale.
“When you are buying a lot, outfitting four kids, it is a significant savings,” Smith said.
Tina Novak had considered going to Dallas to shop during the Texas sales tax holiday, so she was happy to hear that Oklahoma established its own weekend to help parents save on back-to-school clothes. Her 12-year-old son Hunter needs jeans, shoes and t-shirts for school.
“I had planned to spend $250 this weekend,” she said.
The sales tax break will save her $20.87. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.
Let me know about your bargains at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Shop Talk
Tomorrow is a good day. I get paid — to shop.
Well, not to actually buy things (though I might) but to hit the stores and talk to shoppers taking advantage of our state’s first sales tax holiday.
Most clothing items (for children and adults) under $100 each qualify for the three-day sales tax exemption approved this year by state lawmakers
And many stores are adding their own discounts to the mix, in order to lure more back-to-school shoppers to their aisles.
Quite naturally, I volunteered for this story. How often do you get to call the boss and say “I’m at the mall now. I’ll be in later.”
I’m not sure when and where I’ll be, but if you see a nosy redhead eying your purchases, don’t call security. I’ll just be asking if you got any bargains.
And I’ll let you know, on this blog, how things are going. You can e-mail me as well at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
It’s a tough job but somebody’s gotta do it.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Heal Me
Congratulations to the University of California at Davis, which announced today a $100 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to launch a school of nursing in Sacramento. The gift, to be allocated over 11 years, is the largest ever in the nation in the support of nursing education.
Imagine what Oklahoma could do with $100 million for nursing! First up would be to expand the pipeline so that thousands of qualified would-be nurses aren’t denied entry into nursing school because of a lack of faculty and clinical space.
Scholarships, tutoring, career awareness campaigns — they’d all be possible with such a gift.
And the return to Oklahoma would be one-hundred fold. As our population ages, so does the critical need for more health personnel. The Oklahoma Hospital Association estimates that by 2012, the state will be short 3,000 nurses.
State Regents pumped $4.5 million in nursing and allied health programs last year, mainly to hire new faculty. That’s a start, but public funding alone won’t solve this problem.
Tell me your suggestions at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
