Your thoughts on President Obama’s push for early childhood education?
No thinking person is against early childhood education. The best way to have higher performing middle school and high school students? Start young. The tricky part is how do we best spend limited resources to achieve the maximum results?
You disagree with performance-based rewards to schools. Why?
Such a reward system results in school officials tampering with tests or transferring at-risk students to raise their test scores. In fact, schools with lower test scores might need more funding: They’re teaching students with a weaker academic foundation.
You believe in stronger math and science programs. Is this finally happening?
Yes, it is. Last year’s report from Harvard Univ. was a wakeup call: When ranked against 49 other countries, American students ranked 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading.
What is the larger message?
It’s very clear for our future. If we don’t improve our students’ education in math and science, our country will not be economically competitive. Instead of climbing out of the economic slump we’re now in, we will simply descend further.
Name your biggest political concern.
What it’s been for every political activist: social and economic equality for all. If we have the intellectual capability to poke around Mars, we should be able to apply those same capabilities to solving our social inequities.