A look at transforming public education

COEUR d'ALENE — Major change to public education is not brought about by schools, school districts or the federal government. 

It all comes down to the state.

"If we want to fix our schools, it has to be changes of state laws, state codes in order to get a new type of public education system,” Don Nielsen said Thursday during the Mountain States Policy Center's Fall Policy Luncheon on Transforming Education at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Public education is one of the largest entities in the country; the school calendar is part and parcel to American culture, said Nielsen, a senior fellow with the Seattle-based think tank Discovery Institute and author of "Every School: One Citizen's Guide to Transforming Education."

He posed the question, "What would be the benefits of every child earning an effective education?"

“Fewer prisons,” one person said.  

“Fix the national debt,” another offered.

“Everybody would be qualified for a job or easily trainable for a job,” Nielsen said. 

Far less poverty, far less crime, far less medical requirements and civic engagement would improve, he said.

“The quality of people who run for office would be up,” he said. “We have some great people running for office, just like we have some great teachers. We just simply don’t have enough.” 

He asked another question: "Is there any place where public education is done right?"

He showed slides depicting a place of natural beauty, known for its outdoor recreation opportunities, its growing medium-sized capital city and an economy based on natural resources with a burgeoning technology scene.

No, not North Idaho.

Estonia.

"Estonia is about the size of Idaho, and Estonia has one of the finest school systems in the world," Nielsen said. "It could be done in Idaho."

He showed a slide with information ranking education systems. The top six countries were Asian, including Singapore in first place. Estonia came in No. 7.

"Estonia has the best-performing school system in the entire Western world," Nielsen said, noting Canada is No. 8.

"The United States is No. 18, so we're not doing great as a country," he said.

Another slide with WalletHub assessment data from the "States with the Best and Worst School Systems" July 22 report showed Idaho at No. 39 on the national scale.

"We have a lot of work to do," he said. "I hope you will agree with me that this is unacceptable. It's time to change, it's time to get mad. It's time to say we're fed up with a lack of education."

He said while unacceptable, it's not impossible to fix. Nielsen, who served eight years on the Seattle School Board, said Singapore's success comes from its diligence about teacher quality.

"We can't legislate quality parents, but we can legislate quality teachers, but we don't," he said.

In Estonia, teacher candidates must have master's degrees in their preferred subjects.

"You have to be qualified to teach the subject you want to teach," he said.

In Singapore, candidates must have bachelor's degrees in their preferred subjects and graduate in the top third of their class, then go through rounds of rigorous interviews. Even then, many are rejected, Nielsen said.

Those who make it through will be mentored by veteran teachers, and Nielsen said 40% of those who make it that far are rejected.

"One out of 12 people who are called for an interview become teachers," he said, adding that those who make it through student teaching go back to college for up to another 18 months on "how to be a really good teacher," get master's degrees and then are assigned back to the schools where they did their student teaching.

In the U.S., students need money and high school or equivalent diplomas to pursue teaching careers and become certified. 

"If you get admitted to an education college, you will graduate — nobody flunks out," Nielsen said. "And if you graduate, you'll be hired, because we're short on teachers.

"So we end up with excellence by accident," he said. "We can no longer accept that. If we're serious about fixing our schools, we have to fix the way we select and train our teachers."

Empowering principals to be CEOs and giving them control of what happens in their schools is another concept Nielsen discussed.

Pre-kindergarten education is another area that could lead to successful outcomes if reformed. Nielsen said he would be inclined to give parents vouchers to send their students to preschool.

"I guarantee you we'd get some outstanding preschool programs developed immediately," he said.

Among those in attendance for the luncheon were Reps. Tony Wisniewski, R-Post Falls, and Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d'Alene, as well as Sen. Carl Bjerke, R-Coeur d'Alene, and wife Lesli Bjerke, vice chair of the Coeur d'Alene School Board. North Idaho College Trustee Tarie Zimmerman was also in attendance.

Lesli Bjerke, who taught elementary school for 25 years in Southern California before retiring in 2016, wrote in response to a Press email inquiry she thinks it's important to collaborate with other educators and districts to find areas of success and emulate best practices.

She said the concept of principals as CEOs is worth exploring.

"I foresee the state of Idaho continuing to look for ways that will improve our public school system," she said. "I know there has been discussions on expanding school choice options for families as well as changing funding formulas."

During a Monday morning call, Zimmerman said she was shocked by Nielsen's comparisons of Idaho and Estonia.

"He did a really good job of letting your mind go to, 'What if? That looks like us. Look what they did,'" Zimmerman said.

She said she thinks it's imperative the public education system change for the better.

"If we don't do something, things aren't going to get better and they won't happen by accident," she said.

She said she believes in the philosophy of free market competition, and that extends into the education system.

"It’s kind of a change of control to a certain degree, people who have control or power aren't willing to relinquish it and that's a major hurdle," she said.