By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Now President Obama must prove that he’s truly an education president.

We know he likes to brag about his various education initiatives, but the president’s efforts to bring reform to government schools has always come with a deadly asterisk:

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He continues to go out of his way to play footsy with the nation’s teachers unions.

From a political standpoint, that’s understandable. The teachers unions are probably the president’s most loyal supporters, providing a great deal of money and people power to his campaigns. He couldn’t be expected to cut them off at the knees while seeking a second term.

But the unfortunate fact is that the unions remain the greatest impediment to real school reform. They continue to defend the concept of teacher tenure in many states. They continue to resist the idea of teacher evaluations tied to student test scores. They continue to use their collective bargaining privileges to suck the financial life out of struggling schools.

For real reform to happen, the unions will have to be cut off at the knees, and we doubt the president has the desire or will to do that.  That’s one reason we’re discouraged by Tuesday night’s election results.

Unions can’t be full partners in reform movement

The best example of Obama’s two-faced education policy is his “Race to the Top” initiative, which originally seemed like a promising program.

He encourages state governments and local school districts to propose bold reforms in exchange for extra federal funding. He calls for meaningful changes like teacher evaluations at least partially tied to student test scores.

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But then Obama cripples the process by seeking teacher union approval of the various reform proposals. That has forced many states and school districts to make a terrible choice – either water down their proposals to the point of being meaningless, or withdraw them for lack of union support.

Several recent examples of this problem come to mind.

The San Francisco and Oakland school districts were recently preparing a joint “Race to the Top” proposal to gain federal funding for a special math program for struggling students. But the teachers unions in both cities refused to sign on, so the districts decided to withdraw the proposal.

The heck with the struggling students.

Earlier this year the Milwaukee school district won a $10 million federal grant to install a teacher merit pay pilot program that wouldn’t have cost the district a penny. But the district was forced to return the money because the local union hates the idea of merit pay and refused to be part of a test run.

The teacher unions are obstacles to the reform process. Insisting that they agree to any meaningful changes before they are implemented is like insisting that a convicted murderer sign his own execution order. It’s just not going to happen.

Federal dollars do more harm than good

We’ve also been troubled by Obama’s habit of pushing multi-billion dollar “edujobs” programs through Congress.

These enormous expenditures are meant to prevent teacher layoffs in struggling school districts around the nation. On the surface that seems like a noble goal.

But there is more to this scheme than meets the average citizen’s eye. While we’re sure the president wants to keep as many teachers as possible in front of students, the “edujobs” money is really a handout to the nation’s teachers unions. How?

Employed teachers pay dues to their local, state and national unions. Laid off teachers do not. The National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers have experienced significant membership and revenue losses in recent years, and the assistance from the White House is helping them remain afloat.

Tax dollars should not be spent to help labor unions survive.

Another problem with “edujobs” legislation is that it allows local school districts to postpone healthy discussions about their priorities and budgets. Most districts spend about 75 percent of their general fund dollars on salaries and benefits for teachers and other union employees, which is far too much in a slow economy.

It’s best to force local officials to decide what their true mission is, and spend their dollars accordingly. They must decide whether they have the courage to go nose-to-nose with their unions to secure necessary financial concessions, or accept the union’s approach of laying off younger teachers, enlarging class sizes and cutting student programs.

This is a healthy decision-making process that most school boards should go through. Districts that manage to rein in runaway labor costs and tie future compensation to classroom performance will be well positioned to move forward when the economy finally rebounds and refills their coffers.

Allowing schools to avoid this process to any degree with gifts of federal dollars won’t help anyone in the long run.

The clock is ticking for reform opportunities

Perhaps our biggest concern is that the clock is ticking for the education reform movement.

Let’s face facts. The movement has gained momentum due to the stagnant economy. School districts have been short of cash, making them more open to suggestions for reform.

There’s a reason so many states and districts line up to compete for “Race to the Top” cash. They need extra dollars and they’re willing to make extraordinary changes they may not necessarily like in exchange for cash.

This window of opportunity won’t remain forever.

While we don’t have a great deal of faith in Obama’s economic policies, the American economy is an enormous engine that’s showing signs of recovering on its own. When that happens, tax revenues will pick up, school treasuries will be replenished and the urgent need to demand financial concessions and reforms from the union will fade.

School board members are human. If they can give the teachers unions what they want without breaking the bank, they will surely do that. That’s when the chance to impose real change will disappear.

The fact is that we have the Obama administration for four more years. Unless the president hurries up and gets tough with the unions, his chance to affect real educational reform may pass by, with the bulk of the most important work left unfinished.