Spitzer as Reformer

In his 6,200-word State of the State address Governor Spitzer promised to forge "a vibrant education system that demands accountability and rewards excellence" and "to fundamentally reform and restructure programs that have become needlessly expensive."

Yet the new governor did not say a word about the State University of New York, one state institution that for decades has cried out to be held to higher academic and financial account. Besides the problem of its ever-surging costs, SUNY has championed, since the 1960s, a leftist ideology of big government and devalued a traditional curriculum. Instead, it has promoted programs that fragment learning along lines of group identification, such as Hispanic studies, lesbian studies, and the like.

Mr. Spitzer's remarks in the wake of Robert King's resignation as SUNY chancellor in 2005 suggest he favors higher education reform. Joining those calling for the revitalization of SUNY, he said, according to the Associated Press, that the head of the nation's largest public university "system should be an academic who understands how to build the system into the pre-eminent public university system in the nation." Comparing SUNY to the California and North Carolina systems, he added that we do "not generate as many jobs, … not keep as many graduates here, … not have campuses ranked in the top tier in their particular fields of expertise as we should … And given the amount of money we're spending, … we're not accomplishing what we should."

Less auspicious has been the composition of the governor's education transition panel, which Andrew Wolf analyzed in these pages. Among other portents of business as usual, one of its leaders is the president of Bank Street College of Education, Augusta Kappner, who promotes pedagogies that have actually inhibited student learning. Another leader is a past president of Cornell University, Hunter Rawlings III, who is prone to political correctness. "Progress at Cornell," Mr. Wolf noted, "is now measured by the number of ‘Diversity Arches' erected on campus. Perhaps his vision for improving the state university is to bring these red arches to SUNY campuses as well."

Notwithstanding such signals, Mr. Spitzer has the opportunity to prove himself a visionary by guiding SUNY and also the City University of New York to become models of higher education excellence. He could start by understanding the need for performance measures and data along the lines that I presented in a 2002 "Planning Document" prepared for the Manhattan Institute.

The public does not have the performance measures it needs concerning the state's public higher education institutions. Although cost-effective instruments are available, our colleges and universities neither measure nor report student learning gains in core academic areas. There is no mechanism for comparing academic standards at community colleges with those at four-year public campuses. And there is no system-wide comparability of requirements for academic majors.

Therefore the governor should ensure that state education authorities adopt a standard, system-wide instrument for assessing student learning in higher education; develop a template of reporting measures for the quality of education at each campus, and publish the data in an annual report so institutions could be compared.

In addition, to encourage increased efficiency and avoid tuition increases, the governor should demand that trustees and administrators evaluate and increase the teaching productivity of full-time faculty; review the productivity and compensation of top administrators; consolidate academic programs within and among campuses and systems, eliminating programs and courses of dubious value, and make greater use of interactive online learning.

To reverse the leftist trend on campuses that shuts out opposing opinions, Mr. Spitzer should urge the SUNY and CUNY boards to adopt the statement on academic freedom developed in 2005 by the American Council on Education and 29 other organizations representative of the higher education establishment.

Seminal to Mr. Spitzer's promise of providing educational excellence is the restoration of higher education.

Ms. de Russy is a trustee of the State University of New York and writes on educational issues.