November Fifth Coalition Policy Proposals

I. Title: The Collaborative Governance Act

II. Purpose of Proposal

To provide the American public and federal agency officials with clear legal authority

To expand the means of engaging the public in the formation, implementation, and enforcement of public policy through innovations in public deliberation and online public involvement.

To provide citizens with a greater voice in the policy making process and to increase the ability for agencies to collaborate with stakeholders and the public in the formation, implementation, and enforcement of public policy.

To supplement existing federal law (the Administrative Procedure Act, Federal Advisory Committee Act, Freedom of Information Act, Negotiated Rulemaking Act, Administrative Dispute Resolution Act) to authorize networks in which public, private, and nonprofit actors collaborate to develop, implement, and enforce public policy.

To provide clear legal authority for networks of public, private, and nonprofit actors to engage citizens and provide for public participation through innovations in public deliberation and online public involvement..

To provide for transparency and accountability in collaborative governance.

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Title: Putting Citizens Back at the Center of Education

Purpose: To involve parents and other community members in shaping curriculum and instruction, tap the energies of citizens as educators, connect community institutions more closely to k-12 public schools, and restore the civic mission of schools by involving youth as active citizens.

Rationale:

Schools work best when the public is directly involved in education, contributing their ideas, energy, time, and skills

The purpose of education is not just generating outcomes (such as test scores) that are determined by experts. Education is the process by which a whole community chooses and transmits values, skills, knowledge, and culture to the next generation. Communities must discuss what values they wish to transmit.

However, current federal law generally discourages public participation. The No Child Left Behind Act centralizes decisions about standards, curriculum, and tests at the state or federal level, thereby reducing the scope of community engagement. Parents are given options for withdrawing their own children from schools marked as failing, but there is no support for community problem-solving.

Schools can also enhance the civic skills and commitments of young people. Federal legislation provides modest support for these purposes. The Education for Democracy Act funds programs conducted by the Center for Civic Education (at about $29 million annually), and the Learn & Serve America program funds service-learning in kindergarten through 12th grade (at about $37 million). However, current federal law generally discourages discourages the teaching of civics, especially in interactive ways

How it would work:

The No Child Left Behind Act should be revised to:

1) Allow communities to opt out of the testing requirements if they design their own assessments with broad public participation;
2) Provide opportunities for districts to experiment with community advisory boards;
3) Support charter schools if they represent opportunities for broad public participation and innovation in public education;
4) Support the development of civic assessments that measure the ability to work together and apply knowledge and skills to public problems;
5) Require that when districts opt to use standardized assessments, they place civic knowledge on a par with science as a topic to be tested;
6) Increase support for civic education programs that have demonstrated positive effects;
7) Encourage after-school programs to involve youth in civic work;
8) Develop seed grant and awards programs that highlight and encourage innovation in design and uses of places to further student learning and civic learning.

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