A Presidential Review

It’s President’s Day, so it might be a good time to look back at how our presidents approached K-12 education, beginning with Jimmy Carter. Today, EducationWeek spotlighted presidential challenges and successes in a series of online articles. Below are excerpts from those pieces:

 Jimmy Carter – “Jimmy Carter campaigned for president on a promise of establishing a federal department of education and, after some hedging on his part and multiple internal and external political battles, finally delivered on that pledge late in his one term in office. The creation of the Cabinet-level agency elevated the federal government’s role in education for decades to come.”

…

“’I don’t know what history will show, but my guess is that the best move for the quality of life in America in the future might very well be this establishment of this new Department of Education, because it will open up for the first time some very substantial benefits for our country,’ Carter said on October 17, 1979, in the East Room of the White House in signing the bill that carved the new Cabinet agency out of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.”

“The achievement was arguably the high point on education in a long public career in which Carter served as a local school board member, a Georgia state legislator interested in school reform, and a governor who delivered an overhaul of his state’s education system.”

…

Ronald Reagan – “A charismatic icon of conservatism who argued against big government, …President Ronald W. Reagan left an education legacy marked by his advocacy of vouchers and school prayer and by his  hopes of keeping federal control over classrooms from growing.”

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“Supporters of the late president say he deserves credit, however, for using his formidable persona to raise the national profile of education issues, even if his actions occasionally seemed to be led by forces outside his control. In 1983, a national commission convened by his first secretary of education, Terrell H. Bell, released A Nation at Risk, an impassioned call for a more demanding set of expectations in American schools.”

“Opponents said that the president did little to implement or encourage the changes the panel proposed, but President Reagan spoke often of the report after its release, and it became a reference point for reform-minded governors, federal lawmakers, and others.”

“Still, President Reagan remained a champion of local control.”

…

George H.W. Bush – …”Bush served a single term as the 41^st U.S. president, from 1989 to 1993, after years of government service that included member of Congress, ambassador, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president for eight years under President Ronal Reagan.”

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“Upon taking office, Bush would soon begin planning a major policy summit on education goals, held in September 1989 on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.”

“The two-day summit included the participation of 49 of the nation’s governors…, as well as business leaders and policymakers. It concluded with an agreement to develop national education goals and take other steps to improve the nation’s schools.”

…

Bill Clinton – “President Clinton…addressed a wide array of education issues during his eight years in office. Here is a roundup of some of his major initiatives:

Standard and Accountability

Technology

School Choice (especially charter schools)

Vocational Education

Reading and Literacy

School Construction

More Teachers, Smaller Classes

Higher Education

National Service”

George W. Bush – “George W. Bush entered the White House determined to change federal education policy.”

“’Bipartisan education reform will be the cornerstone of my administration,’ he wrote in the foreword to a 29-page document outlining his K-12 agenda, released five days after his 2001 inauguration.”

“By the end of that year, President Bush had forged a bipartisan consensus around the No Child Left Behind Act, which he signed into law on January 8, 2002. For the first time, states receiving federal K-12 education funding would be required to hold districts and schools accountable for the achievement of students, regardless of their income levels, special education status, or ethnic, racial, or native-language backgrounds.”

Barack Obama – “President Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009 amid the wreckage of the Great Recession and with education high on his list of domestic priorities.”

“He scored some early game-changing policy victories on teacher quality, academic standards, and school turnarounds during his first term, but faced a big backlash in his second. That reaction threatened the longevity of his signature initiatives and made it virtually impossible to enact similarly sweeping change in new areas, including early-childhood education.”

Donald Trump – “In his first term, President Donald Trump sought to significantly expand school choice, slash K-12 spending, and tear down the U.S. Department of Education, all while pouring fuel on the K-12 culture war fires.”

Joe Biden – “…In the early days, there was a full-court press to reopen schools to in-person learning…. As the pandemic receded, [the Biden administration] dealt with the continued fallout: issuing grants to bolster school mental health services; funding paid teacher apprenticeships – now an option in nearly every state – to grow the teacher pipeline and break down financial hurdles to pursuing a teaching career; recruiting thousands of tutors; and emphasizing opportunities for multilingual learners.”

…

“But absent from Biden’s term was an aggressive policy agenda before Congress to counteract a historic decline in student achievement and focus the public’s attention on fixing it….”

And now Donald Trump begins his second term of office, the only president to serve non-successive terms other than Grover Cleveland. It’s fair to say that Trump’s K-12 agenda moving forward will look a lot like his first term agenda – most notably trying to close the U.S. Department of Education.

Honestly, on this President’s Day, there isn’t a lot to celebrate from President Carter to President Trump when it comes to K-12 success. Lots of money has been spent, standards have been introduced, lots and lots of testing has been administered, and a tremendous amount of political will has been expended – and the results have been mediocre at best.

And here’s the most important lesson to remember on this President’s Day:

The President of the United States has very little to do with the success or failure of our nation’s schools – at least up to this point in history.

Happy President’s Day.

Til tomorrow. SVB