RE: Home Rule

Phil - Thanks for asking my opinion on the home rule and what you describe as an ideological rift below the surface.  I think your radar is operating correctly.  There are differences of opinion about whether local control is really in the best interest of all students.  Available data on student achievement, by whatever measure you choose to use, identifiable groups of student do less well on measures of achievement consistently over time.  Is this a result of students failing to apply themselves, of schools failing to serve them well, of families and communities not helping them become "ready" for learning, because of family poverty, because of different expectations for some students than for others?  There is no consensus on the causes of this differential achievement.  But there is no political will to replace local control of public schools with state-controlled schools either.  

The draft MP seeks to remove one possible cause of differential achievement from the table by asserting a state expectation for student achievement that is common for all students enrolled in public schools.  It affirms the current academic content standards and performance standards now being finalized as the starting point for what the state expects every school to teach. Second, it seeks to identify the components essential to quality that should be present in every public school.  Third, and closely related to the second point, the Plan proposes to develop a funding model that defines what the state needs to invest in every school to ensure that these quality components are financed.  The Plan then proposes to give local districts the responsibility and authority to expend those resources as efficiently and effectively as they can to achieve the state's expectations for content instruction and student achievement.  

The question still remains, if there are things local districts want to provide in their district or implementation strategies they would like to pursue that are not in conflict with the state's interests (or detrimental to students) should they have the authority to do so?  The concept of home rule authority attempts to address this issue.  

The issue of accountability tends to engender doubts and suspicions about the sincerity of the state in affording local districts control, particularly if the state has an interst in virtually everything.  The Plan attempts to finesse this concern by advancing the notion of shared responsibility.  The state has a legitimate interest in whether public funds are being used effectively to provide quality education to all students and that education is provided in safe facilities.  Local districts have a legitimate interest in whether adequate investments have been provided to enable them to produce the expected outcomes for all students for which they are responsible.  Parents have a legitimate interest in making sure that their children are well served (read educated) by the schools in which they enroll them and have a say in local practices of their neighborhood school.  Each educational entity with a specific responsibility in the education system should be expected to be accountable for the decisions they make and the consequences that follow.

The best chance for such complex relationships to work in the best interest of students is if we can find a way to avoid blame casting and fear and replace it with a collaborative spirit focused on what each needs to do to realize greater success in promoting student success.

I apologize for the length of the response but I couldn't come up with a short answer that accurately reflects the thought that has gone into the first draft.