Hope Street Group Executive Director Monique Nadeau authored the following Letter to the Editor of the Washington Post, in response to a February 3, 2009 column entitled "$100 Billion and No Change Back":
When it comes to education, Richard Cohen's assertion (Feb. 3) that the economic recovery package contains no change is not quite accurate.
The House bill in particular has strong reform language: requiring states ensure that our neediest students have access to effective teachers; requiring states that receive part of the $79B state fiscal stabilization fund to follow spending guidelines; and providing funding for teacher incentive pay programs, charter school facilities, and improvements in state longitudinal data systems and assessments. Both the House and Senate bills also highlight and reward innovation, and allow the Secretary to reserve funding each year for grants based on success in increasing student achievement.
The bill also protects innovative programs already underway across the nation. Mr. Cohen rightly points out that the federal government cannot micromanage 50 states and thousands of school districts. What it can do is take steps to accelerate these reforms, and help share what's working.
Although there are many more problems to tackle, this is a welcome start. The education components of the final recovery package must strike a balance between tackling the short term crisis while addressing the long-term needs. If the proposed reform measures make it into the final package, it will demonstrate that the administration is serious about taking a new approach to one of the toughest problems facing the country.
Monique Nadeau
Executive Director
Hope Street Group
