ADVISORY/National Urban League President Hugh B. Price is Available To Address Bush Education Reform Agenda.

Business Editors

ADVISORY...

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

      WHO: Hugh B. Price, National Urban League president and appointee
        to President Bush's Education Transition Team

      WHAT: Is available this week for commentary and analysis of
        President Bush's education package, due for public release
        tomorrow. Price will attend the White House unveiling of the
        administration's initiative in Washington, DC and is available
        for interviews on-site. He can specifically address how the
        proposals may impact the African American community, as well
        as implications for all Americans.

      Following, an overview of Price's recommendations as related to
the policy ingredients that may be included in President Bush's
education initiative, culled from speeches Price has delivered over
the past year and a half (speech titles and dates follow each citing
in parentheses):

      -   The Imperative of Early Literacy -- I hereby call upon the
        entire African-American community, every black parent,
        caregiver and leader, every black group and, yes, the
        architects of the Campaign for African-American Achievement,
        to focus with laser-like precision on the issue of early
        literacy.

      When I say we should focus on early literacy, I mean we as black
people should make certain that every black child can read, write and
compute at grade level - or better - by the time they graduate from
elementary school.
      You may wonder why I'm urging us to go back to the beginning.
Because that's where it all begins. That's where the foundation for
high achievement is laid.
      If our youngsters are behind when they exit elementary school,
they'll struggle the rest of the way trying to catch up. How will they
handle the reading load in social studies, the writing assignments in
history and the word problems in algebra? How will they ever meet the
stiffer high school graduation standards being imposed by the states?
How will they go beyond high school and get good paying jobs that are
academically demanding?
      The key is to get every child on an achievement track early so
that millions of them aren't frustrated later on as they struggle
against steep odds to catch up. The adage that an ounce of prevention
beats a pound of cure applies with equal force to K-12 education. (The
Imperative of Early Literacy, Dec. 2000)

      -   Literacy Crusade -- Pull out all the stops by launching an
        all-out campaign with the straightforward goal of slashing in
        half the proportion of black, Latino and Native American 4th
        graders who score "Below Basic'" in reading by 2004. Mount an
        all-out literacy crusade, funded from the federal and state
        governments to boost literacy instruction, institute
        supportive activities like literacy academies and literacy
        fairs, and mount community mobilization efforts to ensure that
        every parent and caregiver understands what's at stake and how
        each can help. Insist that Head Start centers and other
        preschool programs licensed by any level of government promote
        reading readiness. And it should use its financial leverage to
        prompt school districts to take aggressive remedial action
        with schools and educators that fail to measure up. (An
        Opportunity Agenda, Jan. 2001)

      -   The Perils of High Stakes Tests for Children -- Politicians
        and educators should learn from the grievous mistakes of the
        minimum competency movement a generation ago. As Nancy
        Grasmick, the state superintendent of schools in Maryland,
        wisely pointed out in a recent column in Education Week,
        states and school districts stiffened the academic standards
        and instituted so-called exit exams for graduation.

      But they didn't invest nearly enough in improving the caliber of
teachers and classroom instruction so that children were prepared to
meet those standards. So the failure rate soared and the political
consensus for minimum standards dissolved. According to Ms. Grasmick,
the fundamental lesson that bears repeating ad nauseam is this: "The
minimum competency movement faltered because sanctions got out ahead
of the hard work necessary to prepare students to succeed."
      By hard work she means training teachers to teach to the new
standards. It means structuring classroom instruction with the aim of
ensuring that all youngsters, not just the few, learn at high levels.
It means that the goal of schooling is for everyone to get it, even if
it takes some youngsters a bit longer in certain subjects, instead of
playing "gotcha" by stigmatizing those who take longer as losers. (An
Opportunity Agenda, Jan. 2001)

      -   Accountability for Educators and Politicians -- It is time to
        make certain all children receive high quality education
        before holding them accountable for tough standards. In other
        words, it's time to hold the adults who are responsible for
        public education accountable for their performance before
        sanctioning youngsters for their failure to perform.
        (Education Accountability: First the School Systems, Then the
        Students, Mar., 1999)

      There should be zero tolerance for politicians whose
appropriations for public education don't match their pious
pronouncements about high-standards and tough love; zero tolerance for
school boards that preside year after year over low-performing
schools; zero tolerance for principals who run schools that
chronically perform below par; and zero tolerance for teachers who
lack the qualifications and the belief in our youngsters' abilities to
lift them to high levels of achievement. (The Aim of Education
Standards: Victors, Not Victims, Nov., 1999)

      -   "Charterize" Failing Schools -- Successful urban schools
        typically are led by highly motivated principals and teachers
        who are on a mission. They set high standards for themselves
        and their students. They do not shun accountability. In fact,
        they relish it and use it to stay on course.

      Many of these educators are mavericks who spend much of their time
fending off central office bureaucrats who try to stifle their
creativity. These high performing educators cherish their autonomy and
flourish because of it. Every school should enjoy this combination of
autonomy and accountability. That's the essence of charter schools,
when they work the way they should.
      Failing schools should be converted to charter schools. Liberate
them from the stifling central office bureaucracy and give them the
latitude to operate the way independent secular schools do.
      The local superintendent would grant each school a revocable
performance contract - or charter -- to operate for ten to fifteen
years. The school would be accountable for seeing that, say, 75
percent of its students meet the state's real-world proficiency
standards.
      If the school meets this standard, it retains its charter, which
can be renewed. If the pass rate falls below this threshold, the
school would be placed on a watch list and required to come up with an
improvement plan.
      If after a reasonable period it fails to boost its performance,
then the charter can be revoked. In effect, this means that the
governing board and faculty responsible for operating the educational
enterprise in that building can be replaced, if need be, with a new
team. If the school is a hopeless cause because, for instance, it's
just too big to work, the facility itself can be shuttered
permanently. (The Aim of Education Standards: Victors, Not Victims,
Nov. 1999)

      -   The Folly of Vouchers -- The League recognizes that parents
        who are fed up with lousy public schools find vouchers
        alluring. Their impatience is perfectly understandable. But
        that doesn't make vouchers a sound public policy. For
        starters, the evidence on whether vouchers actually improve
        academic achievement is mixed. Advocates of vouchers argue
        that competition is healthy for public schools. But the rules
        of competition are rigged against them. Private and parochial
        schools enjoy decisive advantages over public schools when it
        comes to admissions and discipline.

      What's more, public schools must report their results. Non-public
schools do not. In fact, in my state they fiercely oppose the effort
to require their students to pass the New York State Regents exam in
order to graduate. (The Aim of Education Standards: Victors, Not
Victims, Nov. 1999)
      Copies of Price's speeches are available on the League's Web site
at the following URLs:

      -   The Imperative of Early Literacy:
        http://www.nul.org/summit2000.html

      -   An Opportunity Agenda for President Bush:
        http://www.nul.org/econsummit.html

      -   The Aim of Education Standards: Victors, Not Victims:
        http://www.nul.org/npcspeech.html

      -   Education Accountability: First the School Systems then the
        Students: http://www.nul.org/edpolicymarch99.html