Early reading skills can be a powerful predictor of life outcomes, ranging from school success to incarceration. So when dozens of schools in Camden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia see jumps in students’ reading skills, it’s worth asking why.

The answer, according to early results from a rigorous study, is an effort called the Children’s Literacy Initiative which coaches and supports teachers and provides books tailored to teaching early reading. The expansion of this important work is supported by federal innovation funds.

Growing effective approaches to teaching and learning is exactly what America’s young people need. Yet support for this type of innovation is in doubt today, amid a troubling Republican proposal for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

ESEA stands as America’s statement that a high-quality education for every single child is a national interest and a civil right. The law has helped states support teachers, put books in libraries, and ensured that minorities, students with disabilities, children learning English, those living in poverty, and others would not slip through the cracks.

Since then, and especially over the last 15 years, amid bipartisan agreement, progress has been significant. Since 2000, high school graduation rates, once stagnant, rose almost 10 percentage points, to an all-time high. A young Hispanic person is now half as likely to drop out of high school, and twice as likely to enroll in college. Just since 2008, there are a million more Hispanic and black students in college.

These are meaningful steps toward the day every child ― whether she woke up in a shelter, a migrant laborers’ camp, or a leafy suburb ― has access to a world-class education.

Yet Republicans in Congress have released a draft of an ESEA bill that should worry anyone who believes that this nation has an interest in the quality of children’s education.

Few would question that No Child Left Behind ― the most recent version of ESEA ― needs to be replaced. While the attention NCLB brought to the needs of vulnerable students was valuable, its prescriptive and punitive interventions have left it reviled by educators. It’s time for a new law.

Recently, I laid out core ideas that would ensure real opportunity. The new law must expand support and funding for schools and teachers ― President Barack Obama’s budget calls for $2.7 billion in new funding for ESEA, with offsets to ensure we don’t go back to taxpayers for a dime.

A new ESEA also must expand access to quality preschool. It must help to modernize teaching, through improved supports and preparation. And it must continue to enable parents, educators, and communities to know what progress students are making ― and ensure that where students are falling behind, and where schools fail students year after year, improvement will happen.

Knowing what progress students are making, in a useful way, means states need an annual statewide assessment. But we must ensure that the tests ― and test preparation ― don’t take excessive time away from classroom instruction. Great teaching, not test prep, is what engages students, and what leads to higher achievement.

In many places, too many tests take up too much time, and educators, families, and students are frustrated. That’s why we want to work with Congress to urge states and districts to review the tests they are giving and eliminate redundant and unnecessary ones, and then provide support to do so. We’ll urge Congress to have states set limits on the amount of time spent on state- and district-wide standardized testing, and notify parents if they exceed these limits. And the president will request funding to help improve the quality of tests and streamline unnecessary assessments.

A new ESEA also must continue to support the kind of innovation that’s showing such promise. Teachers report that students are feeling empowered and smart. They talk about kids’ faces “lighting up” when new books are delivered ― and that children are excited to read.

Whole classrooms are transforming.

All of these steps will help accelerate the progress America’s students are making, strengthen opportunity for all students, and ensure greater economic security for our nation. Unfortunately, the Republican discussion draft for a new ESEA goes in a different direction. While there are some areas where we agree, the Republican plan would make optional too many things we should be able to promise our young people.

Do we need statewide indicators of what progress all students are making each year ― as the nation’s chief state school officers and many civil rights organizations have asked? The Republican plan says, “It’s optional.”

Should we do more to ensure that all families have access to quality preschool? The Republican plan says, “It’s optional.”

Should we support and grow education innovations that change outcomes for children? The Republican plan says, “It’s optional.”

Should funds intended for high-poverty schools actually go to those schools? The Republican plan says, “It’s optional.”

We cannot afford to replace “the fierce urgency of now” with the soft bigotry of “It’s optional.”

I respect my Republican colleagues, and their care for this country’s children is real. I am optimistic about reaching bipartisan agreement on a bill that holds true to the promise of real opportunity for children across the nation.

By Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan is the U.S. secretary of education. ― Ed.

(The Philadelphia Inquirer)

(Tribune Content Agency)