Tim Singstock (Photo provided by the Singstock campaign.)Written by Timothy Singstock, Candidate for Prince William School Board Chairman At-large
Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently proposed more centralized control and standardized testing in return for more Federal funding (WSJ, Jan 12, 2015). Money with mandates is a false deal for local education. Further centralizing education policy in Washington, D.C. is a counter-productive policy for Prince William County Public schools. No Child Left Behind, Common Core and Race to the Top may be well-intentioned Federal education policies but they produce unintended consequences. Accountability, funding and good governance necessitate Prince William County push back against this latest Federal intrusion into our local education policy making.
Your local School Board is accountable to you, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is not. Prince William voters elect eight members to the School Board every four years. Each school board member answers to approximately 63,000 residents. If you contact these board members, they will respond to you. If you may sign up to address the board during citizens’ time, you can voice your concerns. Who can you contact at DOE if you are unhappy with Federal education policy? Where can you sign up to voice your concerns?
The Federal government is short on funding and long on mandates. Federal funding represents just 3% of the total FY 2015 operating budget. The Federal government contributes $31 million towards an annual operating budget of $919 million (almost $1.3 billion including CIP). This funding-mandate mismatch represents an unfair deal for Prince William County taxpayers and families. With Virginia and Prince William County residents contributing the lion’s share of resources, we should be looking at decentralizing education policy away from Washington, DC.
The government that governs closest to the people governs best. Many of the frustrations I hear from the community revolve around standardized testing. While we have differing positions on standardized testing, I don’t know anyone who wants more. Increased standardized testing and regulatory reach into our schools equals more frustrated teachers, parents and kids. I prefer education policy crafted by our locally elected School Board to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. The families and educators of Prince William County better understand the needs of Prince William County than does a Federal department in Washington, DC.
Prince William County is represented by three members of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of the U.S. Senate. Please contact your federally elected officials and share your opposition to more Federal encroachment into our local schools. Tell them that Prince William County parents and teachers know what’s best for Prince William County.
Reference: Porter & Hughes. “Education Secretary Outlines Central Federal Role in Policy,” The Wall Street Journal. 12 JAN 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/education-secretary-expected-to-outline-central-federal-role-in-policy-1421073901
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