Education Week - May 3, 2023 - 20

16
A Road Map
For Education's
Future
17
Five Pathways for
Improving Student
Opportunities
18
Nine Guiding Principles
To Advance Public
Education
A Bipartisan Agenda for Schools
Is Absolutely Possible
A set of principles can guide policymakers
By Joyce Elliott & Amy Sinclair
W
e are state senators
from different states.
From different
political parties.
Nevertheless, we've
become great friends,
though there are
issues on which we don't see eye to eye. Ensuring
all kids have the opportunities they need to be
successful isn't one of them. Like our colleagues in
statehouses elsewhere, we want all young people
to thrive. The question is how do we make that a
reality? And how can we work toward that reality in a
bipartisan way, particularly when policy discussions
have become so acrimonious?
We've been honored to be part of a national team
of Republicans and Democrats convened by the
Aspen Institute to develop a productive bipartisan
agenda for public education founded on a set
of principles. From that convening, we created
the Opportunity to Learn principles (Page 18)-nine
of them-to help guide state legislators as they seek
the optimum conditions for students to develop and
grow academically, civically, and socially.
We're asking our legislative peers to consider
and lean on the Opportunity to Learn principles
when drafting prospective education bills. It's not so
different from asking someone seeking funding for
a public-works project to provide an environmental
impact or fiscal statement. And here's a real-life
example of why this matters: In Arkansas, Joyce put
forward legislation a few years ago to end corporal
punishment in schools. What ultimately passed
was specifically (and narrowly) focused on students
with disabilities. Had we used the OTL framework
when developing our legislation, it would have
given us a clearer picture of the scope and breadth
of the impact of the state's corporal punishment
law on all students. Principle No. 4, for example,
addresses the fact that " all students deserve safe
and healthy environments that are conducive to
academic learning. " In other words, the framework
would have provided a lens through which adults
could have considered how punitive physical contact
negatively affects students' perception of schools as
a safe, healthy environment.
We must get rid of silos. Too often, legislators
and state agencies don't talk to each other, leaving
the weight of ensuring kids do well in school to
fall solely on a state's education department or
schools themselves. Health, housing, economic
development agencies, local government bodies,
and legislative committees must be part of the
education conversation. They must coordinate with
one another and the state education department
to address the full picture of educating children.
By modeling cross-committee engagement, state
legislators can use their oversight function to signal
the importance of cross-agency collaboration,
including by bringing together leaders from multiple
agencies at a single hearing.
Some trends aimed at bringing more coherence to
cross-agency collaboration are emerging, including
the growth of children's cabinets, typically made
20 | EDUCATION WEEK | May 3, 2023 | www.edweek.org/opinion
Robert Neubecker for Education Week
up of heads of agencies that provide services to
children and families. The state of Indiana has
a Commission on Improving the Status of Children,
which has recommended several successful changes
to state law affecting children, including expanding
developmental screening for young children and
creating a new Juvenile Justice Reform Task Force. It is
a model we can learn from.
socioeconomically, racially, and geographically
diverse. Leaders can create advisory boards that
have representation from historically marginalized
groups in the state. The boards' advice and feedback
should be shared publicly.
State data collection should be streamlined
and shared across agencies while
protecting the rights of students and
families. The state has the authority to authorize
and fund more integrated data systems, and it
should.
As stewards of public education, state
Reaching bipartisan
agreement can be hard,
but it's what kids deserve.
policymakers must work across differences to
provide a public education for every student that
helps them develop a healthy sense of self, prepares
them for participation in civic life, and provides skills
they need to succeed in the future of work.
Starting with an opportunity mindset and
developing an opportunity-to-learn agenda is key to
rebuilding the bipartisan public education system
that this moment demands.
State policymakers need to partner in
authentic ways with nongovernmental
stakeholders, including families and
educators. We'd like to see more parents in
the room where it happens-whether that's the
classroom or hearing room or an accessible,
comfortable place in the community. State
leaders need to help ensure agency leadership is
ELLIOTT was a Democratic state senator in
Arkansas from 2009 until January 2023 and a
vice chair of the senate education committee.
Previously, she served in the Arkansas house
of representatives and was a public school
teacher. SINCLAIR is a Republican state senator
from Iowa and the incoming Senate president and
previously served as the chair of the education
committee.
http://www.edweek.org/opinion
Education Week - May 3, 2023

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