Let’s consider the activities of just two of the partnering organizations for this event. One is the liberal activist group Moveon.org, funded by billionaire George Soros, who has given over $16 million to groups whose agenda is to defeat President Bush. It was Moveon.org that posted two sample political ads on its web site that compared President Bush to Hitler, an action that was condemned by the president of the American Jewish Congress who called the ads “inexcusable” and “morally outrageous.” And at its July conference, the NEA called for union members to mobilize to defeat George Bush and provided Michael Moore’s anti-Bush film “Fahrenheit 9/11” as a treat for conventioneers.

The claim that today’s house parties are designed to be “non-partisan, issue-based events” somehow rings hollow. In fact, the literature provided for today’s “house parties” includes a litany of complaints, the chief of which is that schools need more money.

Standing in contrast to those who complain are those who seek solutions to important issues. These people include educators across the state who worked this summer to identify areas of concern regarding student academic achievement. Superintendents, school board members and principals spoke with me this summer about the challenges they face in implementing the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. What was interesting and unexpected is that the conversations went beyond NCLB to address larger issues of accountability. A report based on this statewide conversation is being released today.

Speaking from the heart, these Minnesota educators said that while they support accountability, they face homegrown state and local impediments to accountability.

For example, administrators praised the efforts of the vast majority of their teachers, but expressed the concern that they must have the right to remove ineffective teachers if they are going to help all students to succeed. They lamented the fact that other teachers often have to make up for the less-than-adequate performance of their colleagues. One educator said: “We need to have the right to terminate people who aren’t holding up their end of the bargain.”

Their frustration can be validated by findings of the non-partisan organization Public Agenda, which surveyed a thousand teachers across the nation. Teachers were asked: “In your district, does tenure mean that a teacher has worked hard and proved themselves to be very good at what they do, or does it not necessarily mean that?” A surprising 58 percent answered that tenure “does not mean that.” Furthermore, nearly half of all teachers surveyed (47 percent) agree that “the union sometimes fights to protect teachers who really should be out of the classroom.”

The issue of student mobility was also raised. For example, in 2003 over 20 percent of the students in Brooklyn Center and Fridley were new to the district. These students had spent much of their time being educated elsewhere, but these districts were held accountable for their achievement. Although this issue has no easy solutions, educators expressed a willingness to come together and develop one.

Regarding the No Child Left Behind accountability system, there was unanimous support for transitioning to a value-added accountability system that would measure student growth over time. In fact, the state is already clearly heading in this direction and has been at least since the 2003 legislative session. The federal government should consider allowing innovative states to pilot such programs, provided that growth targets are set high enough to ensure meaningful goals.

Energies expended in complaining could be put to better use in developing solutions. The input of educators across Minnesota helped to produce many of the policy recommendations outlined in my report, which could well become the solutions to the accountability problems they face. Moving forward in this way is far more productive for our kids than getting sucked into the vicious cycle of complaining.

Let’s hope the house parties serve more than whine and cheese.

An edited version of this commentary originally appeared September 22, 2004 in the Star Tribune.

Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted.