Another option: vouchers
We haven’t talked a lot about vouchers here at School Choice Virginia, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t one option that is already benefitting many students across the country.
In this op-ed for the Appeal-Democrat in California, the author, Douglas Binderup, argues that vouchers are working already in localities across the country.
Having been in place now for more than a decade the results are in: publicly-funded vouchers have proven to be successful in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Dayton, San Antonio and most recently the state of Florida. The voucher system has been so successful in our nation’s capital that the democrat-controlled congress, under pressure from the National Teacher’s Union, is trying to outlaw it.
He continues that those who oppose vouchers use scare tactics, rather than facts to try and defeat choice measures.
The opponents of the school voucher system have used ad hominem arguments to scare the public and keep the rank and file in line. The idea that vouchers would condemn the worst performing students because the private schools would recruit the best students has been proven wrong and actually, the reverse is true. The costs to educate a voucher student are half of what it takes to educate a public school student, thereby affording teachers more time with struggling students in smaller classes. Another myth that has been dispelled is the fear that there would be mass teacher layoffs under the voucher system. What has actually happened in that a lot of teachers have decided to open up their own private schools. Teachers in areas where vouchers have been established have reported that because of the competition, the yoke of bureaucratic regulations have loosened and they are able to exercise more creativity. When schools must compete, it is our youth that are the winners.
Finally, he concludes with three challenges:
• It is time to put the interests of our youth over special interests.
• It is time to embrace the change that will give our youth a leg up in a competitive world.
• It is time to assume our roll as leaders in an ever-changing world.
These are 3 key steps that should be embraced by all who want to improve education and create more affordable choices for all.
Choice… but only on THEIR terms
The scores are in and only one Petersburg school remains fully accredited, according to the state Department of Education.
A sad reality for families in Petersburg, and unfortunately a sad reality for too many families in Virginia. While progress is being made across the Commonwealth, it is still unacceptable to have any students trapped in schools that are failing them.
But, there is somewhat of a ray of hope. As a result of the schools continuing to not meet their goals, the school system will be forced to implement some type of choice for students, albeit a choice that is still mostly under the control of the existing school system.
Pyle said the agreement with the Petersburg schools required a major restructuring of the schools if certain objectives weren’t met. “Those objectives have not been met,” Pyle said.
As a result, the school system must put into place a contingency plan that was developed at the time of the agreement with the state. Pyle said the city’s school system will have to work with a lead turnaround partner to create a charter-like program and provide a choice for parents and students.
“Independence in the instructional program is the key,” Pyle said.
He added that the other goal of the program would be to provide the city with a model for its secondary schools. “The city already has a model at the elementary school level with Robert E. Lee Elementary School,” Pyle said.
An independently managed school program has been used with great success throughout the country, Pyle said. Petersburg will be the first school district in the state to implement such a program.
Victory said that how the plan is implemented will be at the discretion of the board.
We hope that the board will give the new program the autonomy and flexibility it needs to be successful for Petersburg students. We just wish that the government would understand the benefits of choice for all students all the time, not just when government decides they want it.
How’s this for a shock!?
We’ve said it before, times are changing and so are those on the front lines of efforts to bring greater school choice to students and families.
In Florida, one of the leading states when it comes to educational options, the St. Petersburg Times reports that some of the most vocal opponents of choice are now those leading the fight for the very choices they once opposed!
Doug Tuthill, a former Pinellas County teachers union president who once said vouchers were based on “false assumptions and faulty logic,” is the new president of the Florida School Choice Fund, the leading voucher organization in the state.
And if that wasn’t holy-smokes enough, the group’s new communications director is Jon East, a former member of the St. Petersburg Times editorial board who, until his retirement last week, sharply criticized vouchers for years.
Makes your jaw drop a bit, doesn’t it? Or if you’re still an opponent of educational options, it might just make you groan.
Told where East was now working, Mark Pudlow, the usually affable spokesman for the state teachers union, groaned then declined comment.
Like we’ve said, times are changing, and we are very excited to see more and more people across the country embracing educational choice for students and families.
In a parent’s own words
We’ve shared with you before some videos from Voices of School Choice. They are pretty powerful testaments to what school choice is really about- making sure students and families have access to schools where students have the opportunity to succeed.
We thought we would share another video with you today. This time we hear from a mother, and why school choice was so important for her son.
Let’s be the ones who make change
Last week we told you about two men who took it upon themselves to make a difference when it came to education.
In his own way, Roynell Young is carrying on the tradition of the late J. Patrick Rooney, who passed away last week at the age of 80.
Mr. Rooney was a testament to the power of one individual to make a difference. He didn’t accept mediocrity, and he didn’t settle for band-aid solutions to the problems he saw in our education system.
The Wall Street Journal remembered Mr. Rooney and his contribution to education last week.
During the 1980s, while other businessmen were hoping to tweak a badly broken public education system, Rooney advocated more parental choice. In 1991, his company launched a voucher program that enabled low-income families to send their children to private or parochial schools.
“When all families, no matter how poor, have the freedom to walk away from bad schools,” Rooney told us at the time, “competition will force the public schools to improve.” Today, the voucher program serves some 1,700 children in Indianapolis and has spawned similar programs nationwide that provide educational alternatives for more than 50,000 students.
It is an important lesson for us all.
Some people sit around and talk about change. Others step up to the plate and make change.
Let’s be the ones who make change.
Life-changing
Yesterday we shared the inspiring story of how one man made the decision to build a program that would positively impact the lives of thousands of young men in Houston.
Today, we wanted to share with you this story of how Roynell Young’s Pro-Vision program changed one young man’s life. It is a reminder to us all that when we look at education, we cannot limit ourselves to one model or one solution. Instead we should embrace as many different options as it takes to positively impact students’ lives, and give them all a chance at success.
Oscar Pena is one of the young men who has benefitted from the Pro-Vision program.
Oscar Pena was a fighter, and for the most part still is. But these days he chooses to battle for his education and success rather than using his fists to make his way in life. His fighting hit a turning point when he chose to stick with Pro-Vision programs rather than joining a gang.
Oscar was stealing, using drugs, smoking and drinking by the age of 10. His rebellious behavior soon escalated when he began fighting other kids at school. But everything came to a head when he was about to fail the sixth grade. “I would have failed if it weren’t for Pro-Vision,” said Oscar.
Although entering the organization’s all-male middle charter school helped him pass and move on to the next grade, he was still causing trouble and picking fights with other students. Like many young inner-city kids, the sixth-grader was intrigued by the brotherhood and lifestyle a gang offered. Luckily, while the gang was showing Oscar support he hadn’t experienced before, Pro-Vision was on the other side supporting him in more important ways.
Read the rest of Oscar’s inspirational story here.
Finding meaning in their lives
All too often, we hear the argument that simply more money is what’s needed to “fix” America’s educational system. Mostly it comes from those who are already entrenched in the existing educational structure. Yet time and time again, we see the results that money is not the “fix.”
Then there are those who don’t accept the status quo. Those who understand that simply pouring more money into the existing model isn’t the answer. Those who are unwilling to believe that socio-economic status is a barrier to success. Those with innovative minds and the entrepreneurial spirit that has made America great, who are willing to roll up their sleeves, get in there and actually work to make a difference. Their personal investment into students’ lives can’t be measure in dollars and cents.
They are people like Roynell Young.
You see, Mr. Young spent nine years playing in the NFL, even making it to the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. Upon retiring, he could have gone down the path of many celebrity athletes. Instead, he decided to make a difference. Mr. Young chose to go where few knew about his football career, and that decision that would change the lives of thousands of young men for the better.
He moved to Houston where he first started an after school program. It wasn’t easy. But Mr. Young wasn’t looking for easy. The New York Times documents the work of Mr. Young in this great article, “Winning Against Hopelessness.”
Many of the young people who have entered his programs are black or Hispanic and from homes headed by single women. Young has encouraged them to find purpose and meaning through faith and community. Young became their last chance. His school, he said, became their refuge.
In many ways, it became more than a refuge. Mr. Young became a father-figure to these young ment, the program became an extended family.
“I had never seen men of such character in my life,” said one of those boys, Jartis Watts, now 32. “I had never been around men I could trust fully. They were educated. I had never seen that.”
From the after school program, Mr. Young’s project took off.
After about five years of running the Manhood Program, Young decided to create an all-boys middle school.
Rod Paige, the federal secretary of education from 2001 through 2005, was the head of the school district at the time and granted Young’s charter. He said he remembers what Young told him in their first meeting.
“Before these kids can get engaged enough to learn in math and reading and writing and stuff like that, they got to find some meaning in their lives,” Paige said in an interview at his Houston office. He paused. “Meaning in their lives.”
Mr. Young realizes the challenges he is up against every day. His programs are not a cure for the environment in which these children live. But it is giving them greater hope and a greater chance at success than they would have otherwise.
The school’s walls are thin. Young’s students return home to encounter drug deals, domestic and gang violence, and neglect. More than 90 percent of the 120 middle school students in fifth through eighth grade live at or below the poverty line.
But a study conducted by the school found that 81 percent of its students ultimately graduate from high school. Citywide, the figure is about 60 percent.
Mr. Young seems to be on to something that is working. His charter school has the flexibility and the authority to make decisions and figure out what works for these students. Rather than being bound by the current structure of the public school system, they are able to create an educational environment that works for students who sadly, in many cases, would be forgotten in the traditional educational system.
“I paint the picture of what could be if only you would invest in yourself,” Young said. “And then I explain to them that no one here makes anyone do anything. The commitment has to come from deep down within you.”
Mr. Young helps his students to see what can be. We should all work to create the kinds of educational environments so that every student has the opportunity to see what can be.
“Home” Schooling
Over at Bacon’s Rebellion, Jim Bacon writes about his weekend experience visiting the home school expo held in Richmond.
I left with the notion that home schooling is the future of education in Virginia. While public schools are hamstrung by bureaucracy, home schoolers are experimenting and innovating like mad. Home schoolers are devising new curricula and new pedagogies. They’re embracing new technologies. They’re developing new models for sharing knowledge. And they’re availing themselves of community resources rather than recreating everything from libraries to sports facilities. Home schoolers have no need to invest in bricks and mortar. The community is their classroom.
As we have noted before, home schooling is one choice that benefits many families in Virginia and across the country. And it is a trend that is growing.
We need to continue to encourage options for families, including home schooling, in order for parents and students to determine the educational environment that will best meet their own needs.
The latest on Richmond’s Charter school situation…
The Family Foundation has the latest on the ongoing situation with the Richmond City charter elementary school proposal that we had mentioned last week.
As we noted yesterday, School Choice Virginia Board member Keith West has been leading the fight from his position on the Richmond City School Board to try and get a vote on a charter that will give the Patrick Henry Initiative the flexibility and control it needs to have a chance at success.
The Family Foundation reports:
Virginia may yet get its first charter elementary school. Richmond School Board member Keith West yesterday proposed a new contract for the Patrick Henry Initiative. Although some on the board threatened to committee it to death or kill it in some other parliamentary procedure, the contract apparently got a fair hearing in the board’s legal committee yesterday — five hours worth. It will be taken up again by the committee on September 24, then by the board itself on October 6.
We here at School Choice Virginia continue to appreciate the effort that Keith has put into giving the charter school initiative a fair hearing, and hope that the School Board will give the new contract the consideration it deserves. More importantly, we hope the Board will give families and children the choices they deserve and the opportunities they need to be successful.
“Charter schools bring benefits to other public schools”
Yes, you read that right. Charter schools continue to show benefits to other PUBLIC schools as well as to students attending the charter schools themselves.
Okay, so we have said it before that choice benefits public schools, too, but some people still question that for some reason.
In this column for the Herald Tribune, J. Stanley Marshall, the vice chairman and founding chairman of The James Madison Institute and a former president of Florida State University, comments on how charter schools in Florida are showing huge gains and benefitting all students.
Since 1996, when the movement began with Florida’s first charter school legislation, public charter schools have helped to improve the state’s public schools. With the support of parents seeking alternatives to traditional public education and educators seeking greater flexibility and creativity, charter schools offer unique and innovative educational options that are otherwise unavailable. And the number of charter schools continues to expand at an impressive rate. In less than 12 years, Florida’s charter school community has burgeoned from just five schools to over 350 schools that serve more than 100,000 students.
