Next week, January 23-29, is School Choice Week. What is school choice? School choice isn’t about raising one educational model above all others. It’s not about doing away with public schools. It’s about making them better, and giving families the freedom to choose the school -- public, private, charter, religious, secular -- that will help their children learn and grow. Above all, it’s about reforming the system so that every parent has the freedom to choose the education that’s best for their individual child.
It’s about putting parents in control of their children’s education and their future. When did we decide that families should be limited to the specific school their neighborhood was zoned for?
Our public education system is a mess, and the U.S. is falling further behind other developed countries. Something is obviously broken, and we have a responsibility as parents to figure out what it is and how to fix it.
Is money the problem? Is a lack of funds preventing schools from academically challenging our kids? If this were the case, public schools in the DC district would be churning out little Einsteins and Curies, as they spend nearly $25,000 per student. Funding doesn’t seem to be the issue.
What about regulation? Surely No Child Left Behind, which set federal standards for academic achievement and improvement with the lure of federal dollars, has raised the bar for schools everywhere? Not so much. As Linda Darling-Hammond of The Nation points out, “At base, the law has misdefined the problem. It assumes that what schools need is more carrots and sticks rather than fundamental changes.”
Detroit is considering closing half of its schools to fund the teachers union. Teachers in Milwaukee want Viagra covered in their state-funded health insurance packages. The president of United Teachers Los Angeles doesn’t think public school teachers should be accountable to the public. Schools are wasting time and resources banning candy canes rather than actually educating our kids.
Nope, I don’t think lack of funding or regulation is what’s plaguing the education system.
The only thing that’s going to save education is a total restructuring of the system. Students do best when parents and schools work together. Let parents make that first crucial step for their children’s education: Let them choose the school that will best meet the needs of the child they have nurtured and raised, and know better than anyone. Whether it’s a public school of their choice, charter school, private school, or home school, our kids will be winners when they’re at the school that’s right for them, not randomly placed in one according to their address.
Visit School Choice Week to find out more and learn how you can participate.
Image via Liz (perspicacious.org)/Flickr
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Comments 11
Personally, I think more parents need to be involved in their children's education. Period! Not saying that the school system doesn't need help, because it does. But, I see too many parents who bitch about their child's school but don't do ANYTHING to help their child succeed. Just saying.....
Well, in PA they are slashing special ed funding to the tune of about 12 million and SURPRISE! The propsed school choice bill is about 12 million. Nope, not supporting it. You want a better school for your kids? Move or homeschool.
Move or homeschool? That's the solution? Keep the deplorable schools running, keep sinking public (taxpayer) money into something that's not working, and if you don't like it, leave? Lovely idea. That'll work! Oh, wait... people are doing just that, and now property taxes are going up again! So now, those of us who HAVE chosen an alternative - to move, homeschool, or privately educate our kids - are STILL paying for crumbling public schools.
Something has GOT to change. I'm sorry that your Special Ed programs might get cut back - why don't YOU move or homeschool, and let the rest fix their schools?
I think they should have different schools for different levels of learners. Test them all at the end of every year and separate according to their ability to learn. Then the kids excelling don't have to "wait" for that kid who can't be left behind.
They've made it so all kids are learning at the pace of the slowest kid, therefore not learning to their full potential. Which is why our kids are lacking education.
Shit, kids who don't speak English are with a normal class. Does that make sense?
I agree with this article. Parents shouldn't be forced to put their kids in a crappy school just because it is in their neighborhood. I should be able to take stock of the schools in my area and send my kid to the best one because that's where I feel my son will learn the most. I hate that shitty schools keep going because "we can't close it down" or some other bs the governement spews. Also, the teacher's unions are part of the problem. They demand more money, more benefits when they aren't doing their jobs and kids are falling further and further behind. I say, kick out the unions and fire the bad teachers. I will volunteer to teach my kids class for lack of a good teacher, I swear. Some teachers don't get fired because of the crazy ass round about ways you have to go about it. I had a teacher in HS that ogled girls and tried to look down their shirts and up their skirts and he never got fired. No matter how many complaints were filed. The public school system gets a giant red FAIL.