Does America need an Amendment to the US Constitution to improve Public Education?

On Monday, Ben handed each of us a copy of a recent report by the Southern Education Foundation, (link) entitled, 'No Time to Lose; Why America Needs an Education Amendment to the US Constitution to Improve Public Education.  It is pretty comprehensive, and thus lengthy, but here are some of my thoughts and reactions.

There is little doubt that Bush's 'No Child Left Behind Act' isn't turning out results and that a new initiative on education is desperately needed.  However, with the ongoing War on Terror, the oil crisis in the Gulf Coast, and the new hugely expensive Health Care bill, I'm not hopeful that public education is a nagging priority of the current administration.  The idealist in me believes that neither race, location, nor class should be predictors of the quality of public education provided to students.  Soon enough the country will have to address the status quo of public education: an inadequate system of inequitable opportunity allocation.  Of course, those who suffer the worst are the millions of low income -mostly black - students.  As far as money is concerned, the data all points to one near victory: the 'race to the bottom' in a competitive global economy.  

The essential components to establish a basic infrastructure of an sufficient public education system are clear: good teachers, adequate facilities, quality instructional leadership, counseling services, security, libraries, text books, technology, aligned curriculum to high standards of achievement and expectation, after school services, funded pre-kindergarten (non-existent in Mississippi), professional development, to name the basics.  Schools and school districts that fall short of the funds for such essentials shortchange their students.

The calculations are simple, too. Students who endure an inferior education perform significantly worse on standardized tests and other state mandated measures of proficiency compared to those who receive an outstanding education.  Students can't learn unless they are taught by a capable team of teachers and administrators.  Those from an educationally or economically stressed background especially need extra instruction and guidance to make any gains in school.

As I understand it, the "resource and finance" gap abets the "achievement gap".  The SEC report addresses the more frequently pushed under the rug issue of the disconnect between desired achievement ends and available resource and finance means to achieve those ends.  Aren't we just weighing the cow, rather than considering how to ensure that it is well fed?

What is the federal role in regards to funding and providing for public education?  It is unclear and variable, at best.  No Child Left Behind and other partially funded mandates indeed set aspirational standards.  However, without the funding that enables all states to defray compliance costs, such measures are just but small steps in the right direction.

I haven't come across any sound argument for the effectiveness of the highly decentralized system of public education allocation that America now has.  Certainly it is not the most efficient and effective method of ensuring that all students, regardless of the neighborhood they come from or their own parents' education, are treated fairly.  While formal equal opportunity is on the books, we continue to deny the millions of low income and minority students the opportunity to cultivate the tools necessary to capitalize on equal opportunity through improved education.  Check out the link I provided, and see if you can be convinced.  You can also check out John Stossel's Stupid in America for some more commentary.