Coverage of Skills Commission Report Overlooks Important Recommendations

Since December, followers of education news have been talking about the report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. Press coverage of “Tough Choices or Tough Times” has focused on some of its “radical” and “controversial” proposals but mostly ignored its more practical suggestions, such as universal high-quality preschool, increased teacher compensation, and additional programs for disadvantaged students. The controversial report emphasizes that implementation and funding of these programs is vital for the health of the U.S. economy.

“Redeployment of Resources”

The Skills Commission report highlights the importance of education in the global economy of the 21st century, and claims that other nations have overtaken the U.S. in the percentage of children receiving a high school diploma and that the U.S. share of the world’s college students is decreasing. For the United States to remain economically competitive, our education system needs major reforms aimed at improving the academic performance and creative thinking skills of all our children.

According to the report, one key factor in these reforms is a “redeployment of resources.” This recommendation – a major part of the Commission’s findings – suggests that investments in our education systems are inefficient. The main focus of redeployment, the Commission claims, should be on teacher recruitment, programs for disadvantaged students, and universal preschool.

Teachers and Programs

The Commission states that one of the most important goals in education reform should be recruiting teachers from the top of graduating high school and college classes. To do this, it recommends an overhaul of teacher compensation in such a way as to attract more highly qualified recruits. The best way to do this, the Commission says, is pay teachers more. While the recommendations for how to do this – such as reducing teacher benefits and “front-loading” teacher compensation – are controversial, the emphasis on the need for higher teacher pay is unambiguous.

The report also looks at the issue of teacher equity. The Commission recommends state bonuses for teacher effectiveness, teaching in fields that have shortages of teachers, and teaching in rural or urban areas. Reforms such as these would make it more economical for highly qualified, effective teachers to go where they are most needed.

The Commission report also focuses on programs for disadvantaged students: allowing for early arrival and late departure, support services for students at risk of dropping out, free tutoring, and additional guidance counselors. Finally, the Commission describes the potential positive impact of school-based health clinics that can provide early diagnosis and treatment of vision, hearing, and learning disorders.

Moreover, the Commission recommends a redeployment of resources to provide high-quality preschool to all 3- and 4-year olds. This is the best investment of education dollars that policymakers can make, the report says, and it “should have been done many years ago.”

Creative Thinking, Adult Education

The Commission makes several other recommendations that are not unfamiliar to education advocates. One of the overarching themes of the report is the importance of creative and innovating thinking in the 21st century economy, and the authors of the report argue that, to some degree, teachers will always teach to the tests students must take. State standards, assessments, and curricula must therefore focus on creative and original thinking and not on rote memorization.

Given that most of the American workforce of the next few decades is already in the workforce, the Commission recommends adult education programs; programs that allow adults to get a meaningful tenth grade education should be free and available to all adults.

The Commission also recommends what it calls “Personal Competitiveness Accounts.” For every child in America, the government should create accounts with a starting balance of $500 and allow parents to contribute to these accounts each year; the funds in the accounts would be usable only for college tuition.

Radical Ideas

Most of the press coverage surrounding the report has been about its more radical suggestions: ending high school in its current form at grade ten; putting students on different tracks – such as university preparation, vocational school, or community college – after tenth grade; and a complete restructuring of public education by turning public schools into “contract schools” – corporatized schools that will operate in an environment of school choice and state-centralized weighted student funding. These proposals have received the brunt of the debate surrounding the report. Jay Matthews of the Washington Post, for example, muses that the members of the Commission “let themselves be talked into wandering through dreamland, rather than the real world.”

The report warns that it is meant to be taken as a whole and not “cherry-picked” for ideas, but its more practical reforms can be successfully implemented independent of the radical ones. Teacher recruitment, preschool, and programs for disadvantaged students are vital components of education in the 21st century, and education advocates across the country recognize the need for such programs. Though requiring additional state and federal expenditures in the short term, implementing some of the Commission’s overlooked ideas could produce tremendous returns for the future.

Prepared by Matthew Samberg, January 16, 2006