Democrats for Education Reform Joins Chiefs for Change in Rejecting Moratorium on Accountability
Today, Chiefs for Change—a coalition of state school chiefs and leaders that support education reform—issued an open letter in support of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In that letter, they argue that a “one-size-fits-all suspension of accountability measures denies the unique circumstances each state faces.” Chiefs for Change also argues that efforts to place a moratorium on accountability as states adjust to Common Core “overstates the challenge and undervalues our educators.”
Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) fully agrees with the position of Chiefs for Change. The clock never stops on the stakes attached to getting a high quality education for students. The reforms states are implementing now—some of which are attached to Common Core and some of which are not—were begun years ago and will take another two to three years to take hold. It’s hard to see logistical or political sense in suspending them or investing in a hasty one- or two-year effort to renegotiate another, temporary system.
This time and energy would be far better spent preparing for implementation and adjusting to the new standards. No doubt, there will challenges, obstacles, and adjustments during this time. However, this is precisely what the members of Chiefs for Change have taken into account within their own states, and they believe that they are well-prepared to move forward.
No implementation of a fundamentally different set of policies and practices ever has or ever will be perfect. However, we think it would be a mistake to turn a blind eye to the progress of our students—and in particular, the same underserved students who continually get left behind by calls for the status quo—while systems make needed refinements and improvements.