Robert Marzano did a meta-analysis of in-school factors that affect student achievement.  Coming in at the top is what he calls a “guaranteed and viable curriculum.” (Marzano, 2003).  We currently have a very broad set of national standards that each state board of education interpreted differently.  Thus each state developed its own set of standards to guide the local school districts.  Individual state standards vary greatly in the content and depth at each grade level.  As a result, there is a huge discrepancy in achievement standards for students from state to state.  The current national standards were an excellent first step, but they are useless in helping teachers determine what to teach each day.  First and foremost, the department of education must have teachers from each grade level and subject areas convene and develop specific standards to align the curriculum across the nation.  Many states have good documentation that could prove to be an excellent resource, but the true credibility of the new standards will come from the fact they are written by teachers who actually work in the classroom.  It would take less than a summer for a qualified group of teachers to develop an aligned set of standards for each grade level.  The standards could be released for peer review over the next 7 months and the original group of teachers could reconvene the following summer to make necessary changes.  As long as the teachers selected are trained curriculum writers, and their identities are kept secret so that they are not influenced by the unions and lobby groups, they will develop a sound and developmentally-appropriate document that teachers around the country can use to teach effectively.

            While teachers establish useable education standards, governmental leaders can create a modern funding system for education.  People who live in America expect to feel safe.  They have no problems with the government spending billions of dollars on developing the strongest military in the world.  Education is another key to the safety and security of our country.  Through education, our children will develop the skills they need to lead our country into the future.  If our country is going to thrive, education must be our top priority and as such, it should be the most expensive thing in the federal budget.  Currently, the United States is the only developed country where the amount of money spent per student can vary by as much as $11,000 (Biddle, 2002).  To add insult to injury, the most impoverished students typically get the least money for education and the most economically advantaged students who get the most money.  There are many different systems in place around the world to eliminate the discrepancy in funding and ensure the students who need the most actually receive the most funding.  It will take time for policy makers to sort through these and create a system that will work in the United States.  There will also be much input from local and state governments who will not want to lose control over the tax dollars.  Although finding a way to effectively fund education will be the most difficult part of creating a public education system for our country, it is a task that must be done well.

The quality of teachers in public schools across the United States must improve.  For us to provide our students with the most capable teachers, we will have to pay these people more than they could make outside the educational system.  In the state of Texas, a teacher with a graduate degree earns $1000 more per year than a teacher with the same experience who does not have a graduate degree.  The $1000 increase is divided among twelve pay periods.  All in all, it takes over 15 years for a teacher to pay for the graduate degree with their $1000 raise.  There must be a federal standard of compensation for teachers with advanced degrees.  Every teacher with an advanced degree should receive a significant stipend from the federal government in addition to what states or school districts provide.  Instead of constantly reports of teacher shortages, teaching should be a highly competitive field.  This would ensure all students are taught by only the most capable teachers.