In his April 15 editorial, Frank Edelblut outlines the process recently taken to update the Minimum Standards for Public School, aka the 306's. While his accounting of the process is not wrong, it's not an entirely honest portrayal of what happened, why and when.
As an educator who was involved in the first pilot of competency-based assessment in NH over twenty years ago, I think some of the updates are necessary. We DO need to shift our thinking about the role of educators, especially at the secondary level from teaching to facilitating. We DO need to expand our definitions of where kids learn from within four walls of a classroom to the outdoors and in community. However, in shifting these ideas, we cannot discredit the value of public school where kids from diverse backgrounds come together to learn how to be in community despite differences. These positive shifts can and must occur within a strong public school system.
Unfortunately, the State Board of Education and the Commissioner are actively undermining and dismantling public education as evidenced by their support of the school voucher scheme, expansion of charter schools, and their lack of transparency in recent audits. On the upside, this has ensured public school advocates are paying closer attention to decisions and processes that could further harm kids and communities. Had Edelblut and the Board not been so extreme over their tenure, the updating of the minimum standards would have been a lot quieter process, of that I'm sure.
And I'm sure of it, because historically past updates have been written by a very small group of people. Since the original legislation was passed to create these standards, there are some voices that have been notably absent from the process; students.
We should have a widespread, diverse set of student and parent voices from around the state providing honest feedback about what's working and what's not in public schools. And we should use that information to improve a system that is so vital to democracy.
Where's the analysis of the last ten years? How have the current standards been implemented? What is working and what is not? Has there been an independent needs assessment, conducted by someone who has not been part of previous policy updates?
During his quick presentation to the board, Wednesday, April 3, Fred Bramante, who was tapped to lead the 306 rewrite by Commissioner Edelblut, noted that once the new standards are approved, he is eager to share the document with students and parents. My question: why weren't students and parents from various walks of life, experiencing school in different ways across the state, brought in before a rewrite even began?
Yes, this has been a very public updating of the standards, but not because anyone intended it to be transparent. Had public school advocates not raised red flags, the 306s wouldn't have made a news cycle.
There is nothing in the law that says the standards must be changed every ten years, only reviewed. Afterall, if the current rules work well enough, there may be no need to change them. And, we don't know if they are working because we actually haven't stepped back to reflect with those most affected by policy: students.
New Hampshire students, some who haven't even born yet, deserve a better process, a more inclusive process that allows us to reflect on what's working and what's not before setting the blueprint for the next decade that will impact a generation at least.
It's also worth noting that NH chooses to separate the dialogue between purpose, structure, function and funding. While NH was first in the country to adopt a statewide competency based education policy, schools and districts struggled to make the switch, some are still struggling. Without a drastic increase to the state’s contribution to public school funding, how will we ensure schools can even meet the standards without creating more burden for local property tax payers?
We can't compartmentalize the standards conversation from the funding one; they are intertwined. Continue to do so undermines NH’s public education system, and maybe that's another strategy in the attempt to dismantle public schools in NH.
We also can't separate the standards conversation and students. Their perspective is most important.