Defense Data: A Way to Fight the Naysayers.

A year from now our nation will be in the throes of another major national election. The jockeying already has begun, not only among the presidential candidates but also among the various players who determine national policy in the Congress.

Unfortunately, with the dawn of another political season, much of what transpires legislatively has little do with the realities of daily life for the average citizen and more to do with each political party trying to make the other look as bad as possible. Education, as you have seen throughout the year, again has been placed as a pawn in this national chess game.

You will hear candidate after candidate, lawmaker after lawmaker, talk about how awful things are in the public schools and how they should be turned over to private companies or have their money siphoned off in the form of vouchers to private and parochial schools.

Before these political prophets of doom cloud up the horizon with their often-baseless charges, AASA would like to give you a little ammunition from some reputable studies that show schools haven't been doing such a bad job after all.

Supporting Data

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the reading achievement gap between white and black 17-year-olds has narrowed from just over 50 points in 1975 to 36 points in 1992, while the reading gap between whites and Hispanics has declined from just over 40 points to 27 points.

During the same period, the math achievement gap between white and black 17-year-olds has fallen from 40 points to 26 points, while the math disparity between whites and Hispanics has narrowed from a 33-point spread to just 20 points.

While much room for improvement remains, we believe these figures indicate that federal education funds spent locally have had a marked impact on narrowing the student achievement gap. The National Center for Education Statistics also reported that these funds were concentrated on disadvantaged populations, which tend to be disproportionately minority youngsters.

Another fact to pull out of your hat: More students are taking more challenging courses. Since 1982, according to the NCES, 13 percent more students are taking algebra I and 19 percent more are taking algebra II. Higher enrollments in other demanding subjects over hat time include geometry, 22 percent; trigonometry, 9 percent; pre-calculus, 11 percent; biology, 14 percent; chemistry, 24 percent; and physics, 11 percent. These gains were made possible by the extra reading and math instruction these students received in the early grades from Title I.

Dropout rates, according to the NCES, have fallen for all major ethnic groups since 1972: Hispanics, from 34 to 26 percent; blacks, from 22 to 14 percent; and whites, from 13 to 8 percent.

All this has taken place during the years when the first generation of Title I youngsters entered high school. Do federal dollars make a difference? You bet they do, and now you have the figures to probe it.

Fighting Negativism 

With so much already on the plate of the average school system administrator and school board, it would be impossible to dig deeper to replace the extra funds provided by the federal government. They may not comprise a significant percentage of your budget, but they do make a difference in program quality and in the lives of young people.

So when the naysayers come pounding on your door or start filling up newspaper columns and the airwaves with their negative claims about public education, pull out these numbers and let them know that your community, backed up with federal resources, has been affecting students positively.

And remind them just how fragile are the lives in your hands. These youngsters only come our way but once. We must make sure as a profession and a nation to act collectively to do all we can for those who are our future and our destiny.