Friday, March 04, 2011

Jeb Bush and others

Indianapolis Star

Under the bold leadership of Gov. Mitch Daniels, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and courageous leaders in the state legislature, Indiana is transforming education for the 21st century.

Indiana has already made great strides to improve education. Last year, the state adopted laws and policies to ensure students have the early reading skills they need to be successful. They increased accountability and transparency by adopting a system that reports the quality of schools based on A-F letter grades that parents and the public can understand. They opened the door for alternative routes to teacher certification and removed barriers for talented individuals to enter the profession.

This year, Indiana is advancing bold legislation that continues to improve the quality of education by placing a commanding focus on academic success for every student.

Two pieces of legislation working through the Indiana legislature will give Hoosier families more educational options. Expanding access to more choices -- private, charter and virtual -- gives parents a greater choice in where their child goes to school.

House Bill 1002 removes an arbitrary cap that limits enrollment in charter schools, which are public schools that exchange greater flexibility for greater accountability and offer a quality educational alternative that some students may need.

House Bill 1003 empowers Indiana's low- income and working families with the financial freedom to choose the best school for their children. Providing families with the ability to customize education for their children will give more students a greater opportunity for success in school and in life beyond the classroom.

Quality teaching can make the difference in a student's success. If you believe, like we do, that great teachers inspire students to achieve, then ensuring an effective teacher in every classroom is essential to raising student performance.

Moreover, effective teachers should be rewarded with higher pay. When students learn more, teachers should earn more.

Senate Bill 1 recognizes the value of great teachers. It requires teachers to be evaluated and rewarded based on many important factors, including student performance and growth. To attract teachers to the greatest challenges, districts could even pay more to recruit teachers to serve students most in need.

Preparing students to succeed in the most competitive global economy in the history of the world will make Indiana a global leader in attracting investment and creating high-wage jobs.

A child has only one chance to receive a quality education. Thanks to leaders in Indiana, every Hoosier student -- no matter where they live or how much money their families earn -- will have that opportunity.

We hope all Hoosiers will join us in thanking Indiana's leaders for their efforts to improve the quality of education and to make Indiana's education a model for the nation.

This letter was signed by Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida; Paul Pastorek, Louisiana state superintendent of education; Eric Smith, Florida commissioner of education; Gerard Robinson, Virginia secretary of education; Hanna Skandera, New Mexico Public Education Department secretary- designate; Janet Barresi, Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction; Stephen Bowen, Maine education commissioner nominee; Jeanne Allen, Center for Education Reform; Julio Fuentes of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options; Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and senior adviser to the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce; and Robert Enlow of the Foundation for Educational Choice.