Educators and pro-public education advocates have two important messages at our disposal to raise awareness for public education and elevate public education as a top-tier issue for voters.

First, we must do a better job of tying public education to economic growth. Dollar for dollar, investing in public education has a greater net positive impact on economic growth than any other type of investment, including tax cuts. The problem of high school dropouts has generated a lot of attention as an academic crisis, yet the persistently high dropout rate is also an economic crisis. Research shows that turning a dropout into a high school graduate yields a net economic benefit to the public purse that is 2.5 times greater than the costs.

In a typical state, investing two percent more in public education generates 3,900 new jobs and $92 million in new personal income. An equal tax cut generates less than half those gains — 1,500 new jobs and $41 million in new personal income. The research is clear: quality education is critical to the country's economic strength and prosperity.

We must also strongly emphasize education as a shared responsibility. We’re all accountable for student success. For educators, that means reaching and motivating every student. For parents, that means instilling values of respect, responsibility and a love of learning. And for elected officials, it means providing students and teachers with the tools and resources they need to get the job done. We can look to NEA’s Priority Schools campaign to see examples of these principles at work. To successfully transform schools we need smart investments and sustainable solutions that work.

You all have asked the right question … “Politicians love to say the word ‘education,’ but when it comes to doing something about it… outside forces must do the pushing. ... what is the trick to provoking change in individual communities? ’”

Education reform is indeed driven by the grassroots. It’s always been that way, and it’s a great movement for that reason. Education reform was “postpartisan” before postpartisan was cool! There are lots of effective strategies and tactics (and some not so much), but one thing all reformers must be able to do is to understand what constitutes real reform.

There is a moment when parents or other would-be reformers join forces with elected officials. Say, there is xx legislation to be passed, or it’s time to implement accountability measures, or they need a better charter law. What happens at that moment? Politicians, as you point out, do indeed like to use the word “education.” The elected have gotten very savvy, and most of them know how to pay lip service to education reform ... how to sound like a real reformer. But this has led to an all-too common scenario: people at the grassroots have a passionate desire to work for fundamental changes to ensure a better education for their children. They find a politician to work with, someone who says all the right things. But the end result is a toothless and ineffective piece of legislation, worse than nothing. All because they hitched their wagon to the wrong star – or to mix metaphors, they got taken in by a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

So how can the grassroots discern who are the real reformers? As part of CER’s Taking America Back to School on Education Reform campaign, we developed a tool that helps people figure it out. The Field Guide to Education Reform has a fun, tongue-in-cheek tone, but its content is actually quite serious. We think the Field Guide can help parents (and voters!) separate the “talkers” from the “doers” by giving them questions to ask, and telling what to look and listen for as politicians talk about education.

So look out faux reformers! An informed grassroots and electorate is your worst enemy!

A famous French general was rumored to have said there are two great motivators: fear and interest.

When it comes to education, the fear factor might seem obvious. One has only to read the latest statistics pointing to declines in US education, evolving education requirements, and the jobs crisis to assume that the American public understands the vital importance of education and need for reform.

Certainly, these circumstances spark interest for many, but the resulting level of activity isn’t enough. If we want to see real change—if we want to make education a ‘stickier’ issue for voters—we need to create a narrative that resonates on a personal level.

Because even though education policy may determine how successful their children are, it’s expecting a lot of the average voter to research the intricate details of education policy without first demonstrating why they should get involved.

At PENCIL, we’ve found that the best way to get people interested in education is by getting them into local schools. Through the PENCIL Partnership Program, hundreds of business volunteers in NYC and across the nation go back to school as long-term partners, working alongside principals to tackle individual needs that, once addressed, boost student achievement.

These Business Partners help address individual needs on the school-level. But they do more than that: by bringing in people who aren’t typically reporting for class—lawyers, engineers, doctors, IT specialists—we create evangelists who can communicate a school’s story to other professionals. More than reminding our volunteers of their own time in school, through their involvement our business partners gain an understanding of modern education, its importance, and the issues impeding schools, students, teachers, and principals.

This on-the-ground perspective makes previously-obscure issues accessible and digestible. Take just one example: Charles Bendit, the co-founder and co-chief-executive of Taconic Investment Partners, got involved as a PENCIL Partner at Truman High School in the Bronx nearly a decade ago. Today, he helps set education policy for all New York State schools as a member of the New York State Board of Regents.

School leaders face an array of complex challenges, and have gone to great lengths to use their creativity, passion, vision, and energy to overcome them. But without some wider interest in those stories—and without the knowledge that the issues that occur on school grounds have wider-reaching ramifications—there will be little motivation to overcome them.

Although education is not a “top tier” issue for voters (according to a recent Gallup poll, only 4% of polled individuals think education is the most important issue facing the country), the state of the economy certainly is. And, that’s our hook: sound education is the building block of a sound economy. As noted by former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan:

As history clearly shows, our economy is best served by full and vigorous engagement in the global economy. Consequently, we need to increase our efforts to ensure that as many of our citizens as possible have the opportunity to capture the benefits that flow from that engagement.… [O]ne critical element in creating those opportunities is to provide rigorous education and ongoing training to all members of our society.

The problem is that education is very much a state and local issue, and the federal government is traditionally not where voters look to for answers. I don’t know that we need (or have time to build) a grassroots groundswell to get the Presidential candidates to pay attention to education, but what is needed is a greater sense of urgency and awareness around the potential positive, profound impact to our economy by closing the achievement gap. In 2009, McKinsey found that the growing gap in achievement between children in the US and children in other developed countries deprived the US economy of more than $2 trillion in economic output in 2008 alone. Improving education will undoubtedly advance our economy.

Fortunately, both President Obama and Governor Romney understand the national importance of education. But, unlike their predecessors, (Presidents Bush and Clinton) they have refrained from discussing education much on the campaign trail. They can help raise education to a tier one issue by simply talking about it and by making the connection between education, jobs and global competitiveness.

Charter schools are a great place to start. Unlike nearly every other issue debated in Washington of late – education or otherwise – charter schools have broad bipartisan support. In fact, just last year, legislation supporting the growth of public charter schools was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives with support from both sides of the aisle. It’s not hard to see why: parents, children, and advocates of all types want high-performing public schools that meet the needs of our nation’s children. And, in ever larger numbers, that is exactly what public charter schools provide.

President Obama and Governor Romney can showcase high performing charter schools and the results they have for our children. And, they can use the opportunity to clearly articulate how high quality education is critical to the success of our economy. It’s a message for all parties.

Almost no disagreement that the country’s schools need to improve? Really? We have the defenders of the status quo maintaining we are in an educational renaissance, where our schools and teachers have never been as strong as they are today. So-called experts who once demanded accountability have done an about-face, and now try and maintain that international benchmarks really say we’ve never done a better job. And even many of those who may admit there is work to be done seem to say efforts should be to “fix” poverty instead of improving our public schools.

Even here in Connecticut, it wasn’t until recently that policymakers were willing to admit we even have an achievement gap problem. Despite the clear and persistent nation-leading achievement gaps in Connecticut, we had one recent state commissioner of education who maintained that our achievement gap was merely “an optical illusion.”

Much work still needs to be done before we can successfully advocate for change and improvement in our public schools. For years, the education reform movement has been about pointing out the problems. Screaming from the rooftops of our dismal performance numbers and our growing achievement gaps. This is just one part of real reform. Real reform now requires both an identification of the problem and of a real, workable solution.

At the end of the day, successful advocacy does more than just inform the public of the problem. It also must build commitment for a solution, and then mobilize the community around that specific action. Without such commitment and mobilization, real change will never occur.

In Connecticut, ConnCAN applied this philosophy to help bring about real, impactful education reform this legislative session. In just three short months, the Connecticut General Assembly adopted a teacher evaluation model that prized student learning above all other factors. It added 1,000 high-quality preK slots to the state’s offerings. It launched a new program to ensure all third graders were reading at grade level. It established a Commissioner’s Network to turn around our lowest-performing schools. And it provided the single-largest increase in per-pupil charter school funding in state history (though such funding still lags behind the per-pupil average for traditional public or public magnet schools).

All of this was possible because of a reform-minded governor, Dannel P. Malloy, who was committed to doing what was right for children, even if it wasn’t necessarily popular with special interest groups. It was possible because of our new Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, who knows the achievement gap is very real and must be dealt with. And it is possible because of all of the parents and policymakers, advocates and educators, clergy and community leaders from across the state who stood up and loudly declared that the status quo was failing far too many students in our state.

It was truly a team effort, as reformers and advocates rallied around the executive branch to bring change that had previously been impossible to achieve in Connecticut. ConnCAN worked closely with groups such as the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the Connecticut Association of School Boards, the Connecticut Association of Schools, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, and the Connecticut Council for Education Reform. We partnered with organizations such as Students for Education Reform, Educators for Excellence, Families for Excellent Schools, and the Connecticut Charter School Network. And we relied on more than two dozen ConnCAN citizen advocacy captains across the state, as well as members of the clergy, African-American community leaders, Hispanoc/Latino community leaders, and local elected officials who gave voice to the solutions education reform can offer.

At the end of the day, lasting education reform is not going to happen at the national level. As a country, we have too much pride in local control and community involvement in public education. Instead, those changes we seek and need will come because of advocacy at the state level, where the voices of diverse communities can come together and demand common change. One where those diverse voices can leverage their power to demand real change from their governor and legislature, change where the haves and have-nots in the state have access to the same excellent public schools, regardless of race, family income, or zip code.

In Connecticut, we are just now, after nearly a decade of work, starting to see the policy results of such a state-based advocacy approach. The real challenge now is not letting up on the gas, and continuing to speed toward the reforms we need. It means finding common ground with groups we have previously sparred with, and partnering with individuals we have once stood against. It means continue to do what is right, even if that means facing the vitriol and assaults from those who currently benefit from a failed status quo.

Change is hard. It is far easier to ascribe blame than it is to engender real reform. Successful advocacy groups can help chart the course for reform; they can help identify the correct paths of policy change. But for that change to become a reality, a strong team of parents, educators, students, policymakers, and community leaders are necessary to move those ideas and policies into practice and success.

Historically, and constitutionally, education in this country has been a local issue. Unlike many of the countries we are compared with, we do not have a national system of education. Our constitution placed the responsibility for providing a public system of education on the states. Consequently we have fifty separate and distinct systems of education and , except for Hawaii, every state has further relegated the responsibility to local boards of education. As of the 2010-11 school year there are 15,079 school districts in the United States. We do not have a national curriculum or a national test. The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers are attempting to get states and school districts to adopt a common core curriculum but that is far from a reality at this point.

The Bush administration flexed its education muscles with No Child Left Behind and the Obama administration followed suit by using stimulus dollars in a down economy to persuade school districts and states to implement their policy directives through Race to the Top and other competitive funding sources.

The last two administrations have proven that the federal government can indeed affect the education agenda but the strain between federal, state and local governments is stronger than ever. Consider the fact that education funding is primarily a local issue, with local real estate dollars being the primary source of funding for most school districts across America. That is followed next by the states, with the federal government contributing a meager eight percent. It is this method of funding that is primarily responsible for the disparity that exists in the quality of education across school systems. Wealthy suburban communities have world class school systems while impoverished urban and rural systems engender movies like “Waiting for Superman” and now “Won’t Back Down”.

From a pedagogical perspective, there is much we can do to transform our system of education, but to get to the root of the problem we have to resolve the appropriate roles of our levels of government and the amount of money they will bring to the table relative to the influence they hope to exert.

According to the “golden rule” he who has the gold rules. Right now, thanks to the property tax, localities rule.

There’s little disagreement that many U.S. students need better schools. But let’s get real. There is serious disagreement about how to reach this goal.

There is already a grassroots groundswell uniting for educational change. It’s a movement of parents, students and teachers working to resist reform schemes driven by high-stakes testing. Like most authentic movements, however, it is long on energy and short on deep-pocketed supporters.

Unlike Michelle Rhee and wealthy friends, this movement has absorbed the lessons of No Child Left Behind’s sweeping and expensive failures. Its members want to reverse NCLB’s consequences: narrowed curriculum, teaching to the test, rampant cheating and stagnant achievement. Parents and educators know that NCLB’s negative effects fell hardest on classrooms serving low-income and minority children. They see that National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show NCLB failed to significantly increase academic performance or narrow achievement gaps.

They are upset that the next wave of so-called “reforms,” such as the Common Core State Standards and new exams to measure them, show little promise of reversing these failures. That’s because they are based on the same false premise that we can test and punish our way to better schools. The next wave threatens to drown students and teachers in even more testing, instead of unleashing teachers’ and students’ creative potential.

It’s easy to overlook this movement given the hype surrounding big-money propaganda vehicles like Waiting for Superman and Won’t Back Down, but the evidence is there. In Texas, at least 768 local school boards have endorsed an anti-high-stakes testing resolution. This includes big city boards such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as well as those in hundreds of smaller communities. In New York State, more than 1,500 principals from urban, suburban and rural schools have signed a letter protesting the state’s new test-centric teacher-evaluation policy. Their statement concludes with a reminder that a 2011 report by the National Research Council found that the past decade’s emphasis on testing had produced little learning progress.

Inspired by the Texas movement, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest) brought together allies to craft a statement that would appeal to a broader audience. The result, the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing, gained initial sponsorship from a dozen other education, civil rights and religious groups. Supporters include the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Educational Fund, the United Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministries, Parents Across America and the National Education Association. Many local groups, including Time Out from Testing in New York City and Parents United for Responsible Education in Chicago, also helped launch the campaign. The resolution has been endorsed by more than 12,100 individuals and 418 organizations across the nation. Further, dozens of Florida school boards passed it or similar resolutions, as did the state boards associations of Florida and Pennsylvania, with more organizations putting it on their fall agenda.

A grassroots movement for educational change has been born and is taking root across America. It’s still a David fighting for attention against a well-funded juggernaut for more of the same failed school reforms. Don’t count this David out.