Educating a child
I apologize for the lack of new blog posts lately. A long-weekend away for a family wedding kept me away from the computer, so I’m just now trying to play catch up.
I usually try and blog about positive news about education reform from around the country- stories where school choice has been implemented and given families and students hope, but the news about the tragic and senseless beating of a Chicago student deeply saddened and angered me. Perhaps even more so, it frustrated me. No child should go to school in fear. No parent should worry about whether their child will survive the school day. As I read the reports and see the news- you can feel the fear of these students as they talk about tensions escalating and fights breaking out in the hallways. How can a child be expected to learn- to achieve- when they are fearful for their safety or their life?
As readers of this blog know, I have a 4 year old at home. It makes me sick with fear to think what I would do if it were my child who had to go back to this school- knowing what had happened- knowing what was happening. We have written before about the recent study by the Heritage Foundation and the Lexington Institute showing the lack of safety in the DC public schools. But it is not just limited to these urban school districts. Bullying has increased over the past decades- and plenty of students- even students in great schools- are fearful setting foot in school every day.
And that is one of the reasons we work so hard to ensure that every child- every family has a choice. We cannot expect a child to succeed- to excel- if they don’t even feel safe in the classroom. It may not always be something as extreme as what has just happened in Chicago- but that doesn’t make each individual situation any less tragic.
Save School Choice!
Support the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
Capitol Rally
September 30, 2009
Sponsored by the DC Black Alliance for
Educational Options
Join us as we raise our voices to help all District children get a quality education and ensure that all options are available to low-income District families. A bipartisan team of local leaders, community activists, and policymakers are fighting to Put Kids First. All of our voices must be heard! Together, we can help thousands of low-income District families.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
11:30 AM — 1:00 PM
WHERE: U.S. Capitol, Upper Senate Park
(Constitution Ave NW &
New Jersey Ave NW)
METRO: Union Station or Capitol South
www.SaveSchoolChoice.com
Participants will receive free t-shirts.
Making education a priority
Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend!
Over the weekend, I was thinking about our fight for education reform (not that that comes as much of a surprise, I’m sure)- and I had to wonder where it “ranks” for most folks. As I see the political campaigns out doing their door-to-door walks, and watch one campaign commercial after another on tv- I hear about “transportation solutions” and “jobs,” but when it comes to education reforms, things seem to go quiet.
Okay, so I’ve seen plenty of political surveys- and I know that usually generic “education” ranks as a top priority for most voters. Sadly when it comes to “solutions” for education- too many politicians come up short.
Oh sure, we all hear their soundbites: “I’m FOR education.” (What does that even mean??) “I’m for increasing education funding.” (But can you show me where that funding will produce measurable results??) “I support our public schools.” (Gee, that’s great, but what about those public schools that aren’t working for all our kids?)
And what gets me even more is those politicians- like my neighbor- who simply stick the teachers’ union “endorsed” stickers to their yard signs. As if that is going to convince me they are really strong on education. If anything that tells me that they are going to put unions first, which too often means putting kids last.
Derrell Bradford, of E3 (Excellent Education for Everyone)- an awesome organization out of New Jersey working for ed reform- was on MSNBC last week and had a great line about “our schools are organized in ways that make adults happy, but are not serving our children…”
And sadly that seems all too true. But what is worse- why won’t anyone do anything about it?
Shouldn’t parents demand more from the educational system? Shouldn’t we demand more of politicians? They are quick to offer “solutions” for so many other areas of our lives (whether government has any business getting involved or not), but when it comes to our kids, why do so many of them seem more worried about appeasing the teachers’ unions than actually proposing real solutions that will help children to actually succeed?
In this article, Education - ‘the great equalizer’ from One News Now, Mr. Bradford explains:
“Every person has to make education a priority — every child, every parent,” he contends. “It is a serious thing, it is the thing, it is the great equalizer, and it is how we will fix much that ails this great nation.”
And we couldn’t agree more. And in making education a priority, we have to stop letting unions dictate what needs to be done to improve education. Parents need to recognize that the unions are in it to protect their membership- not stand up for children. Parents have to be the ones to stand up for their children and demand better.
He adds that at the same time leaders cannot tell children to take education seriously and then continue to send them to failing schools. Bradford believes that educational choice is key to success — and that with choice, children can get a superior education at a fraction of the cost the government is currently spending per child.
We can no longer sit back and allow politicians to feed us empty lines about “supporting education.” We can no longer allow solutions that do not put kids first. And bottom line- we can no longer accept education reforms that do not allow parental choice to be a part of the solution.
Have you signed the petition yet?
Virginia voters will soon be heading to the polls! All 100 seats of the House of Delegates are up for election- as well as statewide offices.
We want to be sure that the new Governor and the legislature to know that education reform matters to Virginia voters. They need to hear that education reform matters to you.
Join us today and sign our petition of support for school choice and education reform to deliver a strong message that Virginia families demand change. We will be delivering your message to the next Governor and legislators so that they know Virginia voters want real education reforms now.
Let’s be sure that they hear us loud and clear- sign today!
Tolerance and Acceptance?
I’m not sure what exactly it was that made me think about this earlier this morning, but it reminded me about this great post by Matthew Ladner on Jay Greene’s blog last week, “Private Schools and the Public Interest.”
Mr. Ladner writes about a couple of recent reports from the Goldwater Institute: “Private School Students More Tolerant and Politically Accepting.” He notes:
I could fish up absurd quotes from people about how only public schools can teach proper civic values, and how scary private schools under a choice system are certain to indoctrinate children into all sorts of dangerous anti-democratic ideologies. You being a discriminating consumer of education blogs, however, makes the task unnecessary.
(It was probably one of those absurd quotes that reminded me of this blog post… but like Mr. Ladner, I won’t waste my time trying to dig one up for you.)
Anyways, the findings are very interesting- and I know they’ll come as a great shock to some staunch defenders of the public school system.
From the Goldwater Institute’s press release on the survey:
“My school teaches me to value, respect and tolerate differences in others.”
76 percent of students in private school agree with that statement, compared with 51 percent of students in public school.“My school treats all students with respect regardless of race.”
64 percent of students in private high school agree with that statement, compared with 40 percent of public school students.
Anyways, we encourage you to check out the blog and the report. Good reads.
And if you’re looking for some more Friday reading, good article from Louisiana about a relatively civil discussion about educational options.
Accountability?
This headline in the DC Examiner this morning caught my eye: “To save D.C. school vouchers, senators want accountability.” Well that sounds good- right? Yes, sure, we want ALL our schools to be accountable. So of course my next question was: “what about the (complete lack of) accountability in the DC public schools?” Humm… any of you guys want to give me an answer on that one? Accountability goes both ways.
Fortunately, the reporter gets it, and from the very beginning, she acknowledges that:
The call for more data to determine student success gets at the heart of the school choice debate: What determines the viability of a school: parental standards or government standards?
Sadly, it seems most politicians have lost all trust in the human race and our ability to do anything without the wise and wonderful hand of government telling us what to do and helping to make sure we know exactly how to live our lives.
I am ALL for accountability- especially when it comes to spending of taxpayer dollars. It is a good thing- but it must also be balanced. As we’ve argued here before- what should our education dollars be funding- education or schools? If we believe that education is the goal- let’s put accountability back in the hands of consumers. If parents have the ability to take their child out of a failing school- isn’t that accountability? If a parent has no options- and a school is failing their child- isn’t that a lack of accountability? Simply providing test scores and statistics to a government bureaucracy does not make a school accountable- does it?
Senator Dick Durbin and his cronies want us to believe that they are really looking out for the best interest of students with their empty talk about accountability for voucher students, when they have shown little genuine concern about the accountability of the DC public schools that are consistently failing students. Sure- maybe they have the enrollment numbers, the test scores, the drop-out rates- but when those public schools are consistently performing the worst in the entire nation- is there any real accountability?
I know that by now I shouldn’t be surprised, and that perhaps I shouldn’t let it get to me as much as it does, but our kids deserve better.
Betrayed
Walter Williams brings us another good look at the fight for school choice in our nation’s capital with this article in Capitalism Magazine: “Obama’s Betrayal of Education.”
Some may argue the title is a bit harsh, but let’s look at it from the perspective of the thousands of children that have been trapped in the failing DC public school system. As Mr. Williams points out, the DC public schools are not underfunded (spending is nearly 50% above the national average), teachers are the highest paid in the nation (approximately $15,000 more annually!), and the teacher-student ration is better than the national average. Yes, by nearly every measure of performance- to say these schools underperform would be a serious understatement. In most every category, DC ranks last behind every other state.
As readers of this blog well know, DC families are now fighting to save the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. This program costs a fraction of the cost of the DC public schools- and gives students and their families choice and hope for a brighter future. Yet, many in Congress are working to terminate the program. The President and Secretary Duncan have already denied scholarships to 216 students who had been promised them earlier this year, and it is not clear if they will work to continue the program at all.
As Mr. Williams writes, “For people in power to tolerate the Washington, D.C. school system is despicable. For a black president to do so might qualify as betrayal.”
Our kids deserve better. We cannot continue to accept a status quo that is failing our children and our families.
You decide: What “works” in education?
The Heritage Foundation’s The Foundry Blog shares: Universal School Choice Prevails – For Sweden. Yeah, you read that right. Sweden.
In socialist Sweden, universal school choice allows every parent to choose the best school for their child. The voucher program, which has been in effect since 1992 and was created to tackle the kind of problems plaguing the U.S. educational system, provides families with the opportunity to send their child to any type of school they like – public, private, religious, or even for-profit. Stuart Butler, Heritage Vice President of domestic policy studies, explains in Washington Times:
“These independent schools, like the public schools, get a voucher payment for each child. They compete vigorously with one other because the money follows the child to the school of his or her choice. Schools must satisfy their customers … or lose them.”
Sure it’s still Sweden, so there are some drawbacks- schools must all follow a national curriculum and testing- but perhaps there is something to be learned from this model. Schools are given control over their programs and teaching styles, and are actually being forced to satisfy customers, i.e. families? Now that is an ed reform that makes some sense.
Meanwhile, back here in the States, we have teacher’s unions and others actually blocking the doors to children at a charter school. As in last week. September 2009! Really? Is that what the world is coming to? Are unions so threatened by competition that they’ll have members yell at children simply trying to get into their school so they can actually learn?!
Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe it…
What works? You decide.
SIGN THE PETITION: Voice Your Support for School Choice Today!
In less than 50 days, Virginia voters will head to the polls to elect a new Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. In addition, all 100 seats of the House of Delegates are up for election.
We want the new Governor and the legislature to know that education reform matters to Virginia voters. They need to hear that education reform matters to you.
How can you make sure your voice is heard?
Join us today by signing our petition of support for school choice and education reform so that we can deliver a strong message that Virginia families demand change. We will be delivering your message to the newly-elected Governor and legislators so that they know Virginia voters want real education reforms now.
Thank you for supporting educational reforms for Virginia’s children!
You Decide ‘09: Outdated promises or real reform?
Arriving home on Saturday afternoon after running some errands, my hands were full of bags as I encountered a father and son at my door. Ah yes, campaign season is in full swing!
Since my hands were full, and I was eager to unload my groceries, I didn’t stop to talk to the pair- simply thanked them for their time, and they were back on their way.
After the fact, I wished I had stopped the father and son to talk- and more specifically, ask them what their candidate proposed to do to improve the son’s education- to improve education for all of Virginia’s kids. Now I know that these were just two volunteers out with their prepared campaign lit (trust me, I’ve been there plenty there plenty of times myself), but it would have been interesting to hear what their “talking points” on education would have been. More funding? More teacher pay? More money in the classroom? Accountability? Sure, those may be good sound bites, but do they really improve education?
Well the folks at the Washington Post Editorial Board must have been reading my mind (which believe me, is a scary and pretty surreal thing, since I can certainly count on one hand the times the Post and I agree on things…) But sure enough, there was the Post, calling both candidates for governor to task and challenging them to stand up for real education reforms.
Their editorial: Old School in Virginia: Instead of making outdated promises, the gubernatorial candidates should be promoting education reform.
The Post makes the argument that while candidates’ pledges to raise teacher salaries might make a good sound-bite, there is no evidence that it will do anything to actually improve education. While it might be a good move in appeasing the teacher’s unions, it doesn’t equal results. Real education reforms are needed to create real results.
The Post did have some praise for Mr. McDonnell for part of his platform on education.
There are some glimpses of that willingness in the gubernatorial campaigns. We admire Mr. McDonnell’s outspoken support for charter schools; Mr. Deeds has interesting ideas on how to encourage people to become teachers in Virginia. Both see the need for toughening standards. Each says that he supports the concept of performance pay, Mr. McDonnell more convincingly than Mr. Deeds. But neither has fully developed proposals that he is really pushing.
Will Bob McDonnell or Creigh Deeds heed this advice and start promoting substantive reforms? Will they break free from the old school and give Virginians some 21st century solutions?
This year’s other elections up in New Jersey are already seeing education playing a bigger role in the campaigns. Also on Sunday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Schools fuel the NJ race for Governor.” The headline should have probably said “education” instead of “schools,” but that aside, it is clear that all 3 candidates in NJ are pushing hard on education and making it a priority in this campaign.
Virginia voters should also demand that education be a priority in the campaign, and not just the same old “outdated promises.” Our children deserve real solutions and real results- not sound-bites and the status quo.
