As School Year Begins, Dean Praises "Ambitious" Progressive Education

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release

August 23, 2005

Contact: Josh Earnest - 202-863-8148

As School Year Begins, Dean Praises "Ambitious" Progressive Education
Reforms

Washington, DC - As the 2005-2006 school year begins, principals,
teachers and parents are beginning an annual tradition: welcoming
children back to school and wondering how long they will have to wait
for real education reform to reach their communities. Today, a task
force formed by the Center for American Progress unveiled a report with
a series of ambitious reforms for overhauling public education in
America.

The report was released one day after Connecticut's Attorney General
filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education challenging the
unfunded mandates in Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean
praised the report and called on the Republican leadership in
Washington, DC to consider the progressive ideas detailed in the
report:

"Access to quality, public education has always been a top priority of
Americans and an issue that has always been at the center of the
Democratic Party's agenda. As a party, we understand that well-educated
citizens are the keys to America's strong economy and America's strong
democracy.

"For the last five years, America's schoolchildren, their parents and
their teachers have been bombarded with Republican rhetoric about
reforming public schools, but these tired slogans have resulted only in
broken promises, burdensome regulations and unfunded mandates. I
congratulate the Center for American Progress and Governor Napolitano
for conducting this study and laying out a series of ambitious reforms
to make sure that our children and our nation are prepared to meet the
challenges posed by the global, 21st century economy.

"I call on Republicans in Washington, DC and across the country to put
aside the empty rhetoric and join with Democrats to find real solutions
to strengthen public education in America."

**********

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.

[JNelson6563]

1. Progressive reform you say?

Yeah, just toss that one in the circular file....

The folks at the monkey palace aren't interested.

Julie

[madfloridian]

2. You have to read the pdf to see what their report is... froze my computer

I went to the Center for American Progress and tried to view the report. I have the latest Acrobat reader, but it said it would not read the file then froze. Had to reboot.

So I can't make an informed comment. I know Dean is very much against NCLB and recommended governors not to accept it when it was announced.

[MaineDem]

3. From the Executive Summary...

The Renewing Our Schools,Securing Our Future National Task Force on Public Education
believes that,by implementing the following major recommendations,Americans will be better
prepared to meet the needs of the 21st century.

1. More and Better Use of Learning Time
•Extending the School Day,Lengthening and/or Reorganizing the School Year,
and Making Better Use of Existing Time in School

•Providing Pre-School and Full-Day Kindergarten

•Preparing All High-School Students for Higher Education and Connecting Them to Affordable Post-Secondary Opportunities

2. High Expectations,Voluntary National Standards,and Accountability for All Students Learning

•Developing voluntary national standards,expanding national accountability measures, and pressing for adequate and equitable funding across states.

•Increasing assistance to low-performing schools and districts and promoting school construction and modernization.

3. Highly Qualified Teachers for Every Classroom and Strong,Effective Leaders for Every School

•Developing better teacher and principal preparation and training,enhanced
compensation structures,and a more equitable distribution of highly skilled teachers.

4. Connecting Schools with Families and Communities

•Establishing community schools to address out-of-school needs,offering early
screening to identify developmental and physical challenges,promoting home visits
and support for struggling families,and encouraging greater parental involvement in
children ’s education.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=994995

I was able to download sections. I didn't try to get the entire thing all at once and it worked just fine for me. Good luck.