Wait, huh?

Okay, not all adults have that mindset. But it’s funny to see the reaction some have when the idea of cutting 15 percent of Head Start’s budget is introduced. Writing at National Review, Mona Charen takes on the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne. She criticizes him for being “impervious to evidence,” and then opines the following:

It would have been worth the $166 billion taxpayers have spent on the program since 1965 if a significant portion of Head Start alumni did improve their educational outcomes and escape poverty. But that did not happen.

I’ve written about Head First once before, when I noticed the findings documented by the Heritage Foundation. Given the findings are quite indisputable, how about we just start with a little bit of honesty? How about ‘fessing up that Head Start isn’t nearly as great as it was promised to be? A 15 percent cut isn’t the end of the world. Far from it, in fact.

Elsewhere in her piece, Charen notes that Mr. Dionne has “a warm heart,” which I don’t doubt for a moment. Taken together, a warm heart and a cool head could see that I’d be very glad if those big people in government save a substantial portion of Head Start’s billions and help save me from a future of giant debt.

Although the time has passed to get a “head start” on fiscal sanity in the federal government, like my mom says, better late than never.

Whether we realize it or not, I’m beginning to believe I am lucky enough to be coming of age during a truly transformational time in public schooling and education reform. I mean now. On that note, here are a couple of items I stumbled across today that may not seem to go together. Maybe it’s kind of a hodgepodge, but so what?

First, in the Wall Street Journal (H/T Matt Ladner), John Fund’s Political Diary highlights a speech made by mega-billionaire Bill Gates right here in Colorado at the Aspen Ideas Festival:

Undermining public education, he said, is a system that channels too much money to pensions for retired teachers. He predicts that state and local governments will have to lay off 100,000 active teachers in the next couple of years.

Gates then went on to call out state lawmakers for “fraudulent” budgeting systems that hide the true cost of these massive pension promises — promises my parents, and ultimately I, have to pay for. It’s almost like Gates was channeling Independence Institute senior fellow Dr. Barry Poulson and his PERA Transparency Project.

Shadowy accounting tricks are the past. Transparency and intelligent, cost-saving pension reform are the future.

Speaking of the future, thanks to Eduwonk for pointing out a fabulous opportunity for education entrepreneurs. A group called Kauffman Labs in Kansas City is seeking to support “passionate, disruptive, driven” people with revolutionary ideas to put into action in the area of education. Sounds like a great opportunity for someone (or someones) in Colorado!

For one, I’m sure my Education Policy Center friends would love the opportunity some day to share more stories of entrepreneurial success, as they have with John Danner and Rocketship Education, for example.

In the end, Colorado and other states need policies that are friendly to education entrepreneurs, that provide opportunity for success and space to expand tested and proven innovation without unreasonable regulation — and, of course, with greater parental choice. If we keep working at it with a smile on our faces, I believe it will happen.

All part of a bright future changing before our eyes.

Wrong. I mean, it sure sounds like a nice idea on paper. But when you look at the long-awaited comprehensive research on Head Start that finally was released last month, you realize the billions of dollars spent every year is not accomplishing a whole lot of results beyond making us feel good about ourselves.

What do I mean? Check out the report by the Heritage Foundation’s David Muhlhausen and Dan Lips. In the dozens of measurements that made up the areas measured — cognitive development, social development, child health and parenting outcomes — virtually none showed a positive impact from Head Start. Their conclusion?

In the 1990s, Congress mandated an evaluation of Head Start’s effectiveness. In 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services finally released the results of the impact evaluation of first-grade students. Overall, the evaluation found that the program largely failed to improve the cognitive, socio-emotional, health, and parenting outcomes of children who participated in Head Start compared to the outcomes of similar children. According to the report, “the benefits of access to Head Start at age four are largely absent by 1st grade for the program population as a whole.” Head Start’s disappointing results cast doubt over the effectiveness of federal preschool interventions and highlight the need to review the effectiveness of the federal government’s current 69 preschool and child care programs.

So this means Congress will eliminate or cut Head Start funding? That they’ll get out of the business of running preschool services, or at least go back to the drawing board and start over? Right? Guess I’m still young enough to be so naive.

I look forward to hearing what the non-profit group Colorado Head Start has to say about these significant research results. It will be difficult to address, as Colorado raked in nearly $69 million in 2007-08 to serve 9,820 poor Head Start students.

But if there’s no lasting impact to help these poor kids, what are we really doing? Can’t we be doing better to help them?

While I don’t have much to add to the debate, I at least have a vested interest in the discussion. As a boy, I want a smart and caring teacher who keeps the standards high and doesn’t let me get away with nonsense. (Someone who believes in homework quality over quantity, and has a soft spot for Legos and Mr. Potatohead, would also be appreciated.)

More important for troubled boys than whether their teacher is male or female is expanded opportunity for an excellent education through school choice. That’s what Independence Institute senior fellow Krista Kafer persuasively argued for in “The Boy Crisis in Education” (an Independent Women’s Forum publication), and that’s what I’m sticking with.

Millionaire businessman Tom Gamel stood before a classroom of sixth-graders at Cole Arts & Science Academy on Wednesday, about to blow their minds with a nifty gift, but first, he wanted to impart some wisdom.

“I am a very lucky person,” said Gamel, who owns Timpte Trailers and has made wise investments. “The reason I am able to buy you each a present is because of education. I want to urge you, if you want to grow up and be successful, get an education.” …

[Friends of Cole foundation co-founder Jason] Janz and his wife began buying gifts from Wal-Mart — princess dresses, Tonka trucks, toy helicopters, baby dolls and MP3 players. There were 18 different types of gifts, one for each of the school’s 620 preschoolers through eighth-graders. Gifts filled six crates and were delivered by a semi and unloaded with a forklift. The total cost was $13,500.

Ten mothers spent two days to wrap every present — all of which were personalized. African-American girls received African-American dolls. Latina girls got Latina dolls.

I could be jealous that all the students at Cole got a present. You know what, though? I’m not. It’s Christmastime, and many of these kids don’t have much at all.

I am writing about this not just because it’s a bunch of poor kids in Denver getting presents. What makes it even more exciting is the work of the Cole Arts and Science Academy as a new innovation school, making all kinds of intense new progress in helping students to catch up and excel in reading, math and other subjects. My Education Policy Center friends visited the school about 5 weeks ago and were very impressed.

It also gives me a warm feeling to know the kids in this picture (and many others) not only benefit academically from the help Mr. Gamel’s foundation provides the school, but also that because of his generosity — and maybe a little of Santa’s magic, too? — they all will be able to enjoy Christmas a little bit more.

In shameless hopes of a little reciprocation (hey, I’m 5 years old … what maturity level do you expect?), I will take this opportunity to nominate a few of my favorites:

• Best Individual Blog: Colorado Charters
• Best Group Blog: Jay P. Greene
• Best New Blog: Education Next

Okay, now please hurry up! You only have until next Tuesday, December 8, to nominate me (read the instructions here). I won’t ask for anything else for Christmas … I promise. Well, maybe, except for the Denver Broncos Mr. Potatohead — that would be totally awesome!

• School accountability
• Student accountability
• Private school choice
• Scientific-based literacy instruction
• Alternative teacher certification

In a comprehensive article for the Summer 2009 edition of Education Next, Matt Ladner and Dan Lips explain exactly what Florida did to make dramatic gains on 4th grade national test scores.

Perhaps more importantly, they take on critiques from those who say the scores are misleading because of social promotion policies or can somehow be attributed to other education initiatives voters approved: universal preschool and class size reduction. Check out the article.

The good news about the President addressing schoolchildren across the nation? At least this time Congress won’t start an inquiry into it.

Update 4, 9/4: I have gathered and posted numerous responses from Colorado teachers and schools to Obama’s address to schoolchildren. Also, my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow explains what he told Denver Post reporter Jeremy Meyer that didn’t end up being quoted in today’s story.

Update 3, 9/3: Westword blogger Michael Roberts noticed me!! I’m glad he likes my sense of humor. I have a 5-year-old kid crush on him now …. Hope he also reads my latest on this topic.

Update 2: Jim Geraghty notes that the Department of Education has reworded the teacher’s guide to make it less offensive. A good idea … you think? Meanwhile, Douglas County School District south of Denver, the state’s third-largest school district, is allowing parents to opt out. Will others follow?

Update: Jim Geraghty of the Campaign Spot blog notes capitalization and grammar errors in the U.S. Department of Education’s teacher guide for the Obama speech to schoolchildren. That instills a lot of confidence!

The heebie-jeebies, that’s what it gives me, I tell you. Sure some of the bigger kids may just think it’s lame, but I’m kind of creeped out by the idea of the President of the United States giving a speech to all the public schoolchildren in America. When? Next Tuesday, September 8, at 10 AM here in Colorado, that’s when it’s supposed to happen, according to the U.S. Department of Education:

The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.

Do I really need President Obama to take time out of my school day to tell me this? What about phonics? Multiplication tables? Science experiments? Learning about our nation’s Founding?

Like I said, it’s a little creepy. The exercises assigned by federal bureaucrats for teachers to lead discussions with elementary school and preschool kids (PDF) (there’s also a lesson plan for middle school and high schoolers) include things that parents rightly may see as stepping over the line:

*What do you think the President wants us to do?

*Does the speech make you want to do anything?

*Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?

At the very least, what the President and the Department of Education is trying to do looks bad. Some students and parents will feel uncomfortable participating in this unprecedented activity — maybe that makes September 8 a good time to observe those swine flu warnings and stay home.

What about teachers who have a problem with this? Or principals who get a lot of complaints from parents? Can they opt out? We’d love to hear from public school employees — especially in Colorado — who can tell us how this event is being promoted and addressed, and how they plan to respond. Please leave a comment below or send an email to teacher -at- i2i.org.

Finally, when the President is beaming in messages to every public school in the country, what does this say about the oft-quoted doctrine of “local control”? As my friends in the Education Policy Center are fond of reminding me, the best local control is parental choice.

But honestly, it’s just plain a bad idea to mix adult politics with kids’ education in this way. The picture of the sign I posted above may be a little tongue-in-cheek, but given the history with this President it’s hard to see September 8 in any other light.

Okay, now that I’ve whet your appetite and got you nostalgic for childhood, what I really wanted to bring your attention to is the new weekly Carnival of Education Innovation — as explained by Dave Saba, the first host and guy who got it going:

It’s basically a collection of links to recent blog posts on a particular subject. People can come browse the links as a sort of one-stop-shop for all that’s happening in education innovation that week—a “best of the week” so to speak, taking place each Tuesday.

This blog carnival has started out small, with only six participants — including yours truly. I far and away won the prize for the youngest carnival contributor with my post on dead people receiving health insurance benefits from Detroit Public Schools.

Six participants isn’t enough. Let’s keep this thing growing. Submit your blog entries, and encourage others you know writing about education innovation to join in. Thanks to Joanne Jacobs for bringing attention to the carnival!

The idea of the blog carnival is to rotate hosting among the different members. I’m hoping that Ed Is Watching will get its turn soon. Please stay tuned, and come join in the fun!

Apparently, the idea that universal preschool gives kids an accelerated start into improved learning just doesn’t bear out on any large scale. Especially when you look at the Sooner State (and I think you ought to look at it sooner rather than later):

More than a decade after offering students uni­versal preschool, neither Oklahoma nor Georgia has shown impressive progress in students’ academic achievement, as measured by the National Assess­ment of Educational Progress. In fact, in Oklahoma, fourth-grade reading test scores have declined since 1998 when the state first implemented universal preschool.

Say what? Well, I guess you shouldn’t be too surprised — if you’ve been following what I say for any length of time. Like several months ago, when I pointed out what the brilliant Krista Kafer said about the overblown promises of government preschool pushers. They may not be trying to sell us shiny trombones and gold-striped uniforms for a new boys’ band, like the famous fictional Professor Harold Hill, but the purveyors of universal preschool utopia will be at least as hard-pressed to deliver the goods.

If you find this topic really interesting, you may want to check out the new book Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut by Checker Finn.