It’s What President Obama Didn’t Say about Education in the State of the Union Address….

The president, of course, could not speak about all the following disputes in one State of the Union Address. But the problem is he rarely speaks about these issues with the American people. There is little, if any, discussion or debate. The president might be surprised to find not everyone approves of his education policies. Here is an example:

1. Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The president skirted around CCSS; however, the standards and how they were created is wildly controversial with neoconservative and liberal critics alike. It is a serious revamping of the total educational landscape. The American people deserved better treatment on this issue than “change is hard” which is a euphemism for you have no voice—there is no debate. Also, students still get bubble tests, though now they will be on computers which supposedly cash-strapped schools will have to purchase.
2. High-Stakes Testing. Speaking of bubble tests, despite a massive push by parents across the country to opt their students out of testing, many school administrators bully students into taking the tests. Students are sometimes even warned that by opting out they will bring overall school scores down, or they will be penalized in other ways. Many schools focus on elaborate data rooms where they move student data points around like strategic war planning. But parents are sick of unnecessary tests.
3. Universal Pre-K. Are we not all weary of hearing about this? What does the president mean by Universal Pre-K, and why is he organizing politicians, businessmen, and philanthropists to determine how these programs will run? Where are the early child educators and child developmental specialists? Why doesn’t the president pull together those who have studied and worked closely with young children?
4. School Closures. Why are so many public schools closing when parents don’t want to send their students to chain for-profit charter schools? Why are charter schools proliferating when the research doesn’t support them and parents don’t want them? Why is America’s public school system being systematically destroyed?
5. Crumbling School Infrastructure. Can students learn in schools that are falling down or where they smell dead mice in the moldy walls? Trenton isn’t alone. How many other schools are falling apart—embarrassingly non-conducive to learning—even a safety hazard in America? http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/54160726/#54160726
6. Student Privacy and Safety. There is increasing concern over the U.S. Department of Education’s weakening of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Data collection and surveys are being used to ask students all kinds of unusual, very personal, even odd questions. The president did nothing to allay the fears of parents. He made no mention of this issue at all.
7. Teach for America (TFA). While the president says to be supportive of teachers, one must ask what teachers? Surely he is not talking about the most experienced teachers with actual college degrees in education. They lose their positions when schools close. Those positions are then handed over to TFA recruits. The recruits only stay on the job for a short time before being replaced by more TFA recruits.
8. Special Education. The president never mentioned the many special education students who are shut out of charter school and who are lost in regular classes with no support. This includes gifted and talented students. He never mentioned the negative impact of a one-size-fits-all unproven program (CCSS) on students.
9. Race to the Top. Like No Child Left Behind, just the name Race to the Top makes many educators and parents cringe. Does the president not know that many Americans call it Race to Nowhere? Every school should be important in a country like America. Schools should not have to compete for basic funding.
10. College and Careers. It isn’t necessarily bad to determine where jobs are and help match graduates with work programs. But the implementation of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is, like its counterpart Common Core State Standards, very controversial. There’s more assessment! It is also worrisome to be directing students into career readiness starting 3^rd grade! Many worry about a loss of freedom with such programs.
11. Art and Music. As usual, the president, though he spoke of success in Tennessee and Washington DC, had an air of impending doom about education in general. There is this notion that if students don’t work harder and faster the nation will collapse. So changes have been made to public schools that have eliminated the very classes that used to give America her edge here and around the world—the arts!
12. Innovation? In order to have real school innovation, you need peer-reviewed research by expert education researchers and those who understand children. This includes feedback from parents. For far too long, our education system has had neither. Less is never more. Return the real educators—teachers and administrators—to their rightful positions in American education and include the voices of America’s students and parents.