A House Divided?
With today's election bringing the possibility of a divide between the legislative and executive branch, I am wondering what might come of it all.
We the people might recieve a bit of protection from a one-party domination, much like the way mid-term elections went for President Clinton. In terms of education, the potential winners, should President Obama and the Republicans choose to get along on at least one thing, are charter schools. Repbulicans were the initial supporters of demphasizing union power and offering choice to students. Eventually Democrats have come around on the need for change in our public education system.
If charter schools had stocks, I would be risking some money in them if the Republicans make major gains.
posted by Mr. McNamar @ 2:01 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
So are you saying you think charter schools are the answer? They present themselves as non-selective, but am I wrong in thinking they can select who to ditch when it comes to non-performance? I don't see how public and charter schools can be compared when charter schools can easily attract a more motivated audience. If all the public schools were closed tomorrow, and new schools were reopened with "fabulous" teachers, wouldn't unmotivated students still have to go to school? And wouldn't the public still be demanding football, cheerleading, basketball, and special accommodations? Can education be fixed without some incentives / disincentives to parents and students?
Annon #2
While there are attractive points in charter schools with innovation and dedication, they are choices. Parents must be active and make a choice. That leaves those most vulnerable students in the public schools along with troubled children and those not allowed to continue in parochial and other private schools.
All in all across the country there are not many strategic differences in performance of students in charter schools.
Yes public schools seem to be a monopoly in nearly all neighborhoods. And children need to do better. Do not discount the home climate and student effort as input for success. Yes, teachers, schools, materials are important. BUT- there are successful studnets in every school. Remember mother's education and economic level are the biggest indicators of success.
Poor families are not poor by choice. I am certain that they would choose rich if they new how.
Ability, culture, family, and staff/materials are factors.
Anon, I recommend the book Sweating the Small Stuff by David Whitman. He takes a journalistic approach to examining successful charter schools.
I would no more suggest that charter schools are a magic bullet, but I do believe that competition to the local school system would benefit more students in failing systems.
Yet, the common thread of all succussful charter schools is the rejection of a defeatist attitude in which we allow excuses for student student failure. These schools build a college going culture and reject anything but middle class mores.
Will charter schools get 100% of students to college? Clearly the answer is no, but I believe that they can succeed at getting more urban students closer to that goal than their public counterparts. That is unless their public counterparts begin to adopt the principles of charter schools. We need to reject disorder, have a college prep curriculum with appropriate supports, and teach and promote middle class values.
From the state level, we need to be given the freedom to properly discipline the misbehaving students.
Anon, I recommend the book Sweating the Small Stuff by David Whitman. He takes a journalistic approach to examining successful charter schools.
I would no more suggest that charter schools are a magic bullet, but I do believe that competition to the local school system would benefit more students in failing systems.
Yet, the common thread of all succussful charter schools is the rejection of a defeatist attitude in which we allow excuses for student student failure. These schools build a college going culture and reject anything but middle class mores.
Will charter schools get 100% of students to college? Clearly the answer is no, but I believe that they can succeed at getting more urban students closer to that goal than their public counterparts. That is unless their public counterparts begin to adopt the principles of charter schools. We need to reject disorder, have a college prep curriculum with appropriate supports, and teach and promote middle class values.
From the state level, we need to be given the freedom to properly discipline the misbehaving students.
I'm still not a fan of the charter school approach. As soon as a school has the right to expel for non-performance, it's a whole different ballgame. Coming from a Catholic school perspective, I also don't think it's particularly fair to allow a "public" private school system to compete with regular public schools, and also with private religious schools that don't have access to public money. The public school system should be using tax money in a manner that responsibly addresses their task, or they should be closed in favor of allowing people to put their money toward whatever private school can do the job.
For more commentary on the distraction of the charter school, and Steve Perry's (albeit laudable) model in particular:
http://dailycensored.com/2010/03/04/cnn-uses-massive-education-protest-to-push-performance-pay/
I have wondered about the following in relation to public school improvement:
There are often questions about whether the instructional time needs to be increased in schools. My feeling is that students who work hard do not want to be stuck in a classroom for a longer day. Motivated people don't want their time wasted. Maybe what public schools need to do is increase the instructional time selectively. Students who cannot work at-level would need to stay after school for x hours (say, one hour for each class in which a failing grade exists) in a specialized tutoring program. Definitely this would cost a ton, but it might also serve as a deterrent to non-performance.
As to cost, it would be worth the money it might take to require these students to work harder. I'm not talking about a tutoring center where students just sit around and do nothing, but a genuine after-school school to which truant laws apply.
Oh, and the cell phone would need to be left at the tutoring center door.
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