Foreword

FOREWORD

Dr. William Bennett wrote the following essay that appears as the foreword in the 2005 paperback edition of Dr. Yecke's book, The War Against Excellence.

Click here to read the foreword that was printed in the 2003 hardback edition.

William J. Bennett, Former U.S. Secretary of Education
October 2004

After this book was submitted for publication in 2002, Dr. Yecke became the Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota. She brought impeccable credentials as an award-winning teacher and had previously served as the Secretary of Education in Virginia and as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Education.

In only 16 months, her leadership initiated and cemented profound changes in Minnesota's educational system, including the defeat of Minnesota's controversial and discredited "feel good" standards, widely known as the worst in the nation. She led the development of new, rigorous, grade-level specific academic standards that are content-rich, have higher expectations, and were developed by a coalition of parents, taxpayers, and educators. She developed the first ever statewide accountability system for Minnesota's public schools and new school performance report cards that empower parents with a wealth of meaningful information.

By any measure, she produced more changes in Minnesota's education system than most Commissioners do in four years.

And the thanks she received for this effort?

The Democrats in the Minnesota State Senate rejected her confirmation on a straight party line vote.

According to Governor Tim Pawlenty:

"In the dark of night, the Democrats in the Minnesota Senate have done a great disservice to our state. By rejecting Commissioner Yecke on a party line vote, they have rejected innovation and accountability for our education system. My disappointment in their action and the loss to our state is deep and profound."

Why would a highly regarded education reformer receive such appallingly shabby treatment? Why would someone with Dr. Yecke's qualifications and credentials be summarily dismissed? Because she was successful . The status quo had been put on notice that their non-academic activities in the public schools would no longer be tolerated. The very people she exposes in this book - those who support using our schools for non-academic goals - were stung by the swiftness and completeness of the changes wrought by Dr. Yecke. These entrenched members of the education establishment, and the politicians they support, were so recoiled by the message in Dr. Yecke's book that they acted just as she predicted. Amidst vicious personal attacks, intense character assassination, and vilification of the message of this book, she was pilloried during her extensive confirmation hearings. Shunning the desires of parents and taxpayers and employing the politics of personal destruction, the education establishment orchestrated her dismissal.

According to Checker Finn, who served under me as an Assistant Secretary of Education:

Her sin was being an educator of strong principle who would not bend to expediency and whose concern for the state's children overrode the temptation to pander to adult interests. By which I mean not just the teacher unions but also the sizable band of frenzied ideologues that populates the education system of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

She stoutly supported high standards, rigorous and substantive content (especially bona fide history), school choice, and results-based accountability. Educators balked. And by targeting her, Minnesota's faltering Democrat party was able to score a rare victory over GOP governor Tim Pawlenty...

Having dispatched Yecke, the legislature adjourned for the year. Dr. Yecke will live to fight another day, perhaps in another place. She's one of the all-too-rare human treasures of American education.

The lesson for education reformers is clear: Success at reform will be punished by members of the status quo as they grasp at any perceived means to keep the schools tightly under their control.

Minnesota was fortunate to have Dr. Yecke as a stalwart defender of higher academic expectations. She is a true champion of holding schools accountable to taxpayers for academic results. And, like other education reformers who have blazed the path before her, she will not be silenced by political machinations that serve only special interests and not the interests of children.