No Politician Left Behind

Should elected officials, their staff, government appointees, and those who influence public policy be tested?

Having taught in public education for 3 decades, I know the value of assessment. For instance, pre-testing helps an instructor assess what his students know before launching into a particular unit. He or she may discover that much of the material planned needs to be tailored; not a single student needs to cover X, several could use help on Y, and the entire class needs introduction to Z. Post-testing reveals the growth and success of your target learners. Testing following the overall instruction may be a cause for celebration or a sad revelation that nobody really learned much.

By now, most people, not living under a rock, are aware of the standard ushered in by the George W Bush administration, No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The underlying goal of NCLB was admirable: Children in the American public schools should be kept up to standard, and no child should “fall through the cracks” lest he/she get further and further behind – whether due to ethnicity, gender, language, culture, or home life. Who can argue with that? Doing so immediately puts you in the camp of I don’t think children should succeed.

In order to measure the effectiveness of public education, each and every state developed their own yardstick, via a yearly test, which reveals a child’s level of success compared to state developed benchmarks (targets), growth from one year to the next, and provides all the data needed to fill the Grand Canyon by age, gender, ethnicity, language, poverty, district, school, teacher, hair and eye color, number of teeth, one or two parent family, pets or no, dream tendencies, vacations taken, number of ATVs owned, dwelling type, style of clothing, floss or not, brand of computer, MP3 ability, Verizon or AT&T, and, of course, ability to flare nostrils. (Okay, maybe some of those aren’t...) Based on this data, the school and the district may be put on notice that they are not close enough to the standard expected for certain populations, but not to worry, the district will be placed in Safe Harbor, which is code for “Okay, you’re on probation, but next year the Feds expect to see a 10% jump in scores for those populations who are not passing muster.” In other words, the federal government expects to see Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The ultimate target? Schools are to have 100% of their students at the grade level targets by 2014. Or else? Or parents can move their child to a different school. Or the district doesn’t get full funding. Or the Feds send in a Navy Seals strike team which show the failing teachers how it’s done.

Based on this model, if it works for public education, it should also work for elected officials and their appointees. Therefore, I propose No Politician Left Behind (NPLB). The standard, or benchmark: comprehension of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution by 2014. This law will apply to all elected officials, those they appoint who have ANY sway over public policy (e.g. speech writers, czars, press secretaries, all federal judges/justices, and possibly interns) AND ALL CANDIDATES SEEKING OFFICE. Unlike public schools, the standards will not change from one year to the next, as the politicians should comprehend the Declaration and Constitution prior to taking public office.

There will be two phases to the test: a) Content knowledge, and b) Application. The Content Knowledge test of NPLB will cover the Declaration of Independence, all Articles of the Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights. Questions will not be True/False. They will be short answer and extended response thereby eliminating guessing. Additionally, test takers will be questioned for understanding of the purpose and intent of Constitutional content.

Sample questions:

1. Cite the portion of Article I which allows a Senator or Representative to be absent for consideration of a bill.
2. Who may be impeached, under what circumstances, and what is the process?
3. Based on Article II, why did the Framers insist the President be a natural born citizen?
4. According to the Declaration of Independence, what is the purpose of government? Explain.
5. According to the Declaration of Independence, from whom or what, do humans receive their unalienable rights? Why are these rights unalienable?
6. How is the process of reconciliation and filibuster consistent with proportional representation?
7. Using the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, defend the concept of Separation between Church and State.
8. Why were the Framers adamant about including the Second Amendment?
9. Explain how life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness applies to a fetus in light of a physician’s obligation to save the fetus in the event of an accident.
10. List which Articles, Sections, or Amendments of the Constitution you personally ignore because it doesn’t really apply to your duties as a sworn public servant and explain your rationale.

Both the content and application tests will be given annually. Remember, NPLB applies to ALL elected and appointed officials, candidates for the same, and any person exercising sway over public policy. The expectation is that by 2014, 100% of said persons will understand and apply the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

Consequences for not meeting standard will include Safe Harbor for certain populations (e.g. interns molested with cigars, lobbyists who can’t speak English, Secretaries of the Treasury who evaded personal tax liabilities, Candidates who think there are 57 states). However, by 2014, 100% of those described above must meet standard. Or? The government loses its funding. Those in government receive less salary each year until they and their staff are brought up to standard. A Navy Seal strike team steps in and demonstrates how it’s to be done.

Who will be the holder of accountability? I guess that would be you and me. A Republic demands an educated public who holds their government accountable. Therefore, we must know the ground rules – that is, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. By abdicating this responsibility to those we elect, we are assuming they know, and more importantly, will be careful to fulfill their oaths:

Congress: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

President: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Supreme Court Justice: I, [NAME], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [TITLE] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.

English historian, Lord Acton, said, Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Do you sometimes wonder how our government has strayed so far from the blueprints set down by the Founders and Framers? All three branches swear to uphold the Constitution. How many actions do these people take, on a daily basis, which are not consistent with that document? Increasingly, actions of our government demonstrate a widespread belief among elected and appointed officials that the public is ignorant, and therefore, they can cleverly get away with just about anything. Are they correct?