Three years ago, Jeb Bush left the Florida governor鈥檚 office with a legacy of having brought sweeping changes to his state鈥檚 education system, through hard-edged policies that gave parents and students more choices and demanded more of schools.
Today, that legacy seems poised to grow鈥攁nd well beyond Florida.
In state capitals across the country, numerous lawmakers and officeholders say they are determined to follow the ambitious and often polarizing education blueprint fashioned by Mr. Bush, a Republican, during his two terms as Florida鈥檚 governor. Many conservatives specifically cite Mr. Bush, who chairs a foundation that seeks to explain and expand his Florida model, as the intellectual architect of policies to support vouchers and charter schools, improved and more aggressive testing, and school grading systems, which they hope to replicate.
鈥淗e鈥檚 had an incredible influence on me, because he knows exactly what to do and how to get it done,鈥� said Tony Bennett, Indiana鈥檚 elected superintendent of public instruction. The Republican recently announced his participation in a group of state schools chiefs who will promote such policies as school choice and performance-based evaluation of teachers and administrators, an endeavor backed by Mr. Bush鈥檚 foundation.
鈥淗e wore what he believed would change the system on his sleeve,鈥� Mr. Bennett said, 鈥渁nd he really invited the debate.鈥�
Passionate About Policy
As the brother of the nation鈥檚 43rd president and the son of its 41st, Mr. Bush draws attention for reasons that have nothing to do with his record governing the nation鈥檚 fourth-most-populous state. Speculation persists about whether he might make his own run for the White House someday, despite his repeated disavowals of presidential ambitions.
Since his second and final term as governor ended in 2007, Mr. Bush has shown less appetite for the national spotlight than for the intricacies of education policy.
Not long after leaving office, he launched the , headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla. It lists as one of its main goals helping governors, legislators, and others pursue policy changes in areas such as improving the use of data, teacher effectiveness, and school choice. He also chairs another group, the , which focuses on a similar education agenda in his home state, specifically.
Earlier this year, Mr. Bush and Bob Wise, a former Democratic governor of West Virginia, announced they would co-chair the Digital Learning Council, a coalition of business leaders, advocates, and others seeking to improve the use of technology in schools, identify best practices in that area, and encourage states to adopt those strategies.
To date, the Foundation for Excellence in Education has worked with elected officials and organizations in at least 16 states, with Mr. Bush having conducted much of that outreach on his own. Some elected officials seek his advice on the nitty-gritty of policy. Others ask for his counsel on how to sell controversial proposals to elected officials and the public.
Mr. Bush, 57, says he urges them to act boldly, even if it causes them grief and costs them political capital.
鈥淚f they want to be elected and be popular, then they probably ought to go do something else,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淭his takes a lot of hard work, and it鈥檚 typically pretty controversial.
鈥淲hat I try to tell people interested in starting down this path is [that] taking an idea, converting it into policy, turning that policy into law, and then executing that law is a process that鈥檚 not dissimilar to a political campaign,鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going from start to finish. You have to be intensely focused on this.鈥�
Mr. Bush鈥檚 work with state policymakers is hands-on.
Earlier this year, he phoned individual Oklahoma legislators to urge their adoption of a Florida-style program to provide vouchers to students with disabilities, according to his aides, a measure that eventually became law. In June, he met with staff members of Louisiana鈥檚 education department and offered advice on how to implement the state鈥檚 newly adopted school-grading law effectively. He has also traveled to other states to speak about Florida鈥檚 model at the invitation of elected officials and advocacy groups.
One such state is Indiana. This month, Mr. Bennett and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels unveiled their goals for the upcoming legislative session, which include expanding charter schools鈥攁 core tenet of Mr. Bush鈥檚 work in Florida鈥攁nd taking more aggressive steps to turn around low-performing schools.
Both the governor and state Superintendent Bennett have also voiced support for vouchers. In addition, Mr. Bennett is working with the state鈥檚 board of education to develop a system to grade schools from A to F based on academic performance. And Indiana this year approved a law allowing 3rd graders to be retained if they cannot show basic literacy skills over time. On the second two fronts, state officials have been influenced by Florida鈥檚 policies, Mr. Bennett noted.
In November, the Foundation for Excellence in Education hosted a conference in Washington meant to highlight innovations in teacher evaluation, technology, and other areas, which drew state officials, researchers, and corporate executives from around the country. At that conference, five state schools chiefs鈥擬r. Bennett, Deborah Gist of Rhode Island, Paul Pastorek of Louisiana, Gerard Robinson of Virginia, and Eric Smith of Florida鈥攁nnounced their formation of a group to support new approaches to paying and evaluating teachers and administrators, school choice, and improved tests and standards, among other goals.
Right Climate
The national political environment seems ripe for the kinds of changes Mr. Bush favors. The recent midterm elections saw Republicans seize control of a majority of governors鈥� offices鈥�29 in all鈥攁s well as take hold of both chambers of the legislature in 25 states; they now have more state legislative seats than at any time since the 1920s, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a research and policy organization in Denver.
As Florida鈥檚 governor, Mr. Bush shepherded a series of bold, yet divisive school proposals into law, in most cases with strong backing from a GOP-dominated legislature.
In 1999, the legislature approved his A+ Accountability Plan, which requires that students be tested annually, sets A-F letter grades for the state鈥檚 schools, and allows students in persistently low-performing schools to transfer to higher-performing public schools. The law鈥攁pproved about three years before the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Act鈥攁lso originally allowed families of students in persistently struggling schools to obtain vouchers to attend private schools. ( June 23, 1999.)
The private school option, which average payments of about $4,200, ended when it was deemed unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006. Yet other voucher-type programs adopted during Mr. Bush鈥檚 tenure remain. One provides vouchers to students with disabilities to attend private schools. Another program, which offers corporations tax credits to cover private school tuition costs for low-income students, was expanded this year by Florida lawmakers.
Other changes included a law that requires students to demonstrate literacy skills before moving beyond 3rd grade, and policies expanding charter schools and alternative routes to teacher certification. Florida was also an early testing ground for performance pay; the state awards high-performing and improving schools extra money, which they can use to give bonuses to teachers and school staff members, among other options for spending it.
Bruising Fights
Mr. Bush鈥檚 detractors accused him of ramming unproven and inflexible strategies into law with too little outside input. His school policies sparked public protests and sit-ins, including one in which a state lawmaker arranged for a group of 3rd graders to stake out the governor鈥檚 office to protest a retention policy supported by Mr. Bush.
Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association, is skeptical of states鈥� efforts to follow Mr. Bush鈥檚 model in Florida, which the union official described as 鈥渢he test controls everything.鈥� Some aspects of Mr. Bush鈥檚 work were admirable, he said, like his focus on improving struggling schools and building the amount of available state data on schools and students. But governors and lawmakers in other states would be advised to pay more attention to teachers鈥� concerns if they want to make their policies sustainable, argued Mr. Pudlow, whose union is affiliated with both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
鈥淛eb鈥檚 approach was always my-way-or-the-highway,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e was not interested in engaging us.鈥�
Mr. Bush remembers things differently. He acknowledges pushing hard for his agenda and antagonizing opponents. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 that good at singing 鈥楰umbaya,鈥� 鈥� he said. But he also asserted that his union critics weren鈥檛 offering constructive alternatives.
鈥淭hey were at the table,鈥� the former governor recalled. 鈥淭hey just didn鈥檛 like what they saw.鈥�
The Obama administration has encouraged state officials and unions to find common ground on issues like merit pay, teacher evaluation, and charter school expansion, most notably through the federal Race to the Top competition, part of the economic-stimulus program. Mr. Bush said he thought state elected officials鈥� willingness to negotiate with critics depends on whether they can do so without straying from their goals.
鈥淒iluting something to the point where it won鈥檛 work is a complete waste of time,鈥� Mr. Bush said. 鈥淏ut every state鈥檚 going to be different. Every leader has a different approach. ... Governors have the chance to be big and bold. They don鈥檛 have to paint in pastel colors.鈥�
Assessing the Record
Supporters of Mr. Bush鈥檚 education record point to the state鈥檚 gains in 4th grade math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an independent, federally administered exam. Since the late 1990s, Florida students鈥� improvements have outpaced national averages, and the state鈥檚 black and Hispanic 4th graders have made strides during that period in closing the gap that separates them from their white peers, particularly in reading.
But Florida鈥檚 record at the 8th grade level is more mixed. In math, the state鈥檚 scores lag slightly behind national averages and are slightly ahead in reading. (The score difference in math is statistically significant, though the one in reading is not, federal officials say.) Both the math and reading scores have improved over time. According to data compiled for 澳门跑狗论坛鈥檚 2010 report, Diplomas Count, Florida鈥檚 high school graduation rate trails national averages, though it also improved faster than the nation from 1997 to 2007. Officials from Mr. Bush鈥檚 nationally focused foundation say they are confident that Florida鈥檚 performance at the secondary level will improve, pointing to tougher academic requirements established during his second term as governor and by state officials since then.
Not everyone thinks Florida鈥檚 record warrants imitation. After Mr. Bush spoke at a 2009 education forum in Indiana, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette warned against state officials rushing to adopt Florida鈥檚 strategies.
鈥淭he interest in Bush鈥檚 school reform efforts by Republicans Daniels and Bennett likely has more to do with his choice agenda than with results,鈥� the newspapers editorialized, adding: 鈥淗oosiers should take a more critical look at Jeb Bush鈥檚 education record. ... Perhaps the best practices can be found in our own backyard.鈥�
David N. Figlio, a professor of education, social policy, and economics at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., who has studied Florida鈥檚 school choice and testing policies, says the evidence suggests that 鈥渂y and large, the accountability program has been successful,鈥� particularly in raising the performance of minority and disadvantaged students. Mr. Figlio recently co-wrote a study that found Florida鈥檚 tax-credit program that covers young, disadvantaged students鈥� private school tuitions produced modest gains in test scores at public schools forced to compete for those students.
For other states considering Florida-style policies, the evidence indicates that 鈥渕oderate-sized school choice programs, aimed at low-income students, are nothing to be afraid of,鈥� Mr. Figlio said.
Other questions for state officials to consider about Florida鈥檚 approach are more difficult to answer, because they鈥檙e more difficult to measure, he added. Are the state鈥檚 schools overly focused on testing, Mr. Figlio asked, at the expense of a more wholistic approach to teaching and learning? Are subjects that aren鈥檛 tested being ignored or underemphasized?
鈥淭he positive is that test scores have gone up,鈥� he said, but a critic can still reasonably ask, 鈥� 鈥榊es, but at what cost?鈥� 鈥�
Tailored Approaches
Supporters of Florida鈥檚 strategies point out that the state adjusted and improved its testing and grading policies over time. For instance, Mr. Bush backed changes to the school-grading system to credit schools for individual students鈥� year-to-year improvement and put more emphasis on boosting struggling students鈥� performance, noted John Winn, who served as an education commissioner in the former governor鈥檚 administration. Other states need to be ready to make similar modifications, he said.
鈥淭he trick is to set the bar so that it鈥檚 attainable,鈥� Mr. Winn said. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not attainable, it loses its motivating factor.鈥�
Mr. Bush鈥檚 strategies have drawn the interest of conservative lawmakers in states that would seem to have little in common with Florida, educationally or demographically. Utah Speaker of the House David Clark said he is impressed that Florida has made educational gains despite its broad diversity and the challenges of working with a high percentage of students with limited-English proficiency. He became more interested in Florida鈥檚 approach after hearing Mr. Bush speak at a recent national conference of state lawmakers.
鈥淚 thought, if they can be successful in that head wind, we can do it in Utah,鈥� recalled Mr. Clark.
Earlier this year, Mr. Clark wrote an in the Salt Lake Tribune saying he wants his state to follow Florida鈥檚 lead in areas such as toughening 3rd grade retention policies, supporting alternative-certification options for teachers, and expanding online coursetaking. Putting those policies into place is a priority, 鈥渂ut it will take time, and it will take a considerable amount of effort,鈥� he said in an interview.
In Mr. Bush鈥檚 view, state officials should look to Florida鈥檚 experience for guidance, but tailor their policies to meet their states鈥� needs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a strategic approach and a long-term approach,鈥� Mr. Bush said. 鈥淭here were a lot of lessons we learned in our state that can be applied, and there are things we didn鈥檛 do that other states should do. ... It鈥檚 not just Xeroxing some four-page white paper. That鈥檚 not what this is about.鈥�
