Elliott Landon: Suports mandatory national education standards. WN file photoBy Jennifer Connic
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has proposed voluntary, national educational standards, but Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon said he thinks the standards should be mandatory.
After five years, the U.S. Congress is planning to review the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Dodd is the co-sponsor of the Standards to Provide Educational Achievement for Kids Act with Sen. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., and it would provide incentives to states who adopt national standards in math and science.
“Math and science skills are essential to establish and maintain academic competitiveness on the global landscape,” Dodd said in a written statement. “American students should have the same opportunities to learn and achieve success whether they study in large schools or small, or live in Connecticut or California.”
Landon believes the proposal does not go far enough and there should be mandatory standards for every state in all subjects.
“We need mandatory, national standards at a high level that is imposed on every state,” he said. “It would mean the kids in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have as good of an education as the kids here in Connecticut.”
Landon said he cited those three states because officials there have the worst rates of supporting public education and have some of the lowest standards in the country.
Some states are lowering their standards for political reasons under the No Child Left Behind Act, he said, and national standards would help stop that from happening.
Additionally, he said, it would be an effort to keep the nation competitive in the world economy.
The plan would not necessarily take the rule away from local education officials, he said.
“It would be up to the local school boards to find ways to meet those standards,” he said. “It would mean experimentation and creativity.”
Connecticut has high standards, Landon said, and perhaps those could be used nationally, but the standards could be even higher than what Connecticut has.
The start towards those high standards, he said, would be to make Connecticut’s achievement tests the standard for the country.
There also needs to be a proper national assessment to ensure school systems are held to the high standards, he said.
“After that, we will need to have a national effort, much as we did after Sputnik, to annually review our national testing standards and upgrade them accordingly on a regular basis,” he said. “Then, if states and localities are not able to show some real porgress, efforts need to be undertaken to reform and upgrade state educational efforts and school systems not making the grade across the country.”
As Congress reviews the No Child Left Behind Act, he said, they should also consider the tutor program for failing schools.
He said he believes federal officials are throwing good money after bad money for the tutors without taking a look at those schools.
They should be making sure there is not incompetence in those schools, he said.
Also, federal officials should examine the goal for 100 percent of students to pass a standardize test, Landon said.
“It’s never going to happen,” he said. “If there was a chance, I would be supportive of it.”
