Our fickle Reform-o-Meter has been trending chilly lately, so this should come as a sign of spring: crank up the heat to hot, hot, Red Hot. That's because it's time to give the Obama Administration credit for hiring two fearless education reformers for key positions at the Department of Education: Jim Shelton (pictured at left), who will lead the Office of Innovation and Improvement, and Peter Groff (pictured at right), who will head the Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives.
Both of these offices were created under the Bush Administration, and promoting, as they do, various forms of school choice and government aid for religious organizations, there was always a question mark about whether a Democratic team would even keep them in place. Not only has President Obama chosen to do so, he's put serious people at the helm.
Let's take up Jim first. Here's how Education Week puts it:
James Shelton, a former program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is now heading the U.S. Department of Education office that was seen under President George W. Bush as a way to help promote charter schools and choice.Mr. Shelton's appointment as the assistant deputy secretary for the office of innovation and improvement shows that the administration of President Barack Obama is "serious about pushing the envelope on innovation" and rewarding entrepreneurship, said Nina S. Rees, who in 2002 was selected as the first head of the office.
"It's very exciting. And [Secretary of Education Arne Duncan] didn't just pick anyone to run it. He brought a seasoned and well-known education reformer to the office," Ms. Rees said.
There's more:
Mr. Shelton was program director of the Education Division at the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He helped manage grants in the Eastern United States, new school creations and replications, and efforts to broaden college access. Before joining Gates, he was a partner for the NewSchools Venture Fund, an entrepreneurial philanthropy based in San Francisco, according to a biography available on the fund's Web site.
He's the real deal. So is Peter, who is also profiled in the same Ed Week article:
Mr. Groff, a proponent of charter schools and an early supporter of Mr. Obama's presidential bid, is a founding member of the Colorado branch of Democrats for Education Reform, or DFER, a New York City-based political action committee. He won the organization's "education warrior" award in 2008.In the Colorado legislature last year, Mr. Groff helped craft the state's Innovation Schools Act, which gave school districts more leeway to hire staff members outside of union contracts and more control over how much time teachers spend in class.
So this one is simple; the Administration easily deserves a Red Hot rating for these appointments. And these offices are relatively important; together, I'd rank them a 4 out of 10. OII in particular will play a key role in the implementation of the Secretary's $650 million slush fund innovation fund.
But let me add just one caveat to this coronation: now that Shelton and Groff hold positions of power, will they go to the mat to support the students in D.C.'s school voucher program? Will they stiffen Arne's spine to embark on a righteous war with Congressional defenders of the status quo? To support a program that is a hallmark of "community and faith-based initiatives," and is getting strong results to boot? Showing up might be half the battle, but true "warriors" like to win the fight, too.
What do you think? Cast your vote below.
