I think he describes well what is happening and why.
Two-Tier School System Working?
Charter, magnet and private schools are able to choose their students. Though any student is welcome to apply for enrollment in a magnet or charter school, as soon as that student falls short of the school's expectations, he or she is sent back to their home school. In this way, certain schools are able to retain only those students who meet the school's academic and behavioral standards.
By contrast, all other public schools have a zero percent rejection rate. They must educate all children, regardless of disability, motivation, parent involvement, or whether or not they speak English. Just as a comparison, let's look at two schools: Lincoln Avenue Academy and Oscar Pope Elementary.
In the 2013-2014 school year, Lincoln Academy had 570 students, 2.3 percent of whom were "disabled" and 20.8 percent of whom were "economically disadvantaged." Oscar Pope, on the other hand, had 482 students, 20.5 percent of whom were "disabled" and 62.2 percent of whom were "economically disadvantaged." That same year, 22 percent of Oscar Pope's entering students were considered "not ready" for kindergarten, compared to 6 percent of students at Lincoln Avenue. Regardless of the metric used, there is nothing remotely similar between these two schools.
Despite the fact that one school has distinct advantages in terms of the students enrolled, both schools (and all the teachers) are evaluated according to the same standards and with the same tests. Is it really surprising that Oscar Pope was graded as a D school, while Lincoln Academy earned an A?
He points out that blaming the teachers for the poor performance of students is not productive.
He recognizes this is probably the future of education and says we need to figure out how to level the opportunities.
As a nation, we seem to be accepting the idea of a two-tiered public school system where students lucky enough to have their lottery number picked or to receive a voucher receive an excellent education, while those relegated to "regular" public schools do not.
I know for sure that the new Florida trend of
taking the state money from public schools and handing it over to the parents is going to cause more destruction of public schools.
Called Education Savings Accounts, the programs work like this: The state deposits the funds it would have spent educating a given child in public schools into a bank account controlled by his parents. The parents can use those funds — the amount ranges from $5,000 to more than $30,000 a year — to pay for personal tutors, homeschooling workbooks, online classes, sports team fees and many types of therapy, including horseback riding lessons for children with disabilities. They can also spend the money on private school tuition or save some of it for college.
ESAs so far exist only in Arizona and Florida, where one family recently sought to use their child’s funds on an “educational vacation” to Europe. (Program administrators, who must approve all expenditures, said no.) But the idea is catching fire. Bills to create the accounts cleared panels last week in the Virginia and Mississippi legislatures. They’re likely to be on the table as well this session in Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and possibly Rhode Island and Tennessee.
The Foundation for Excellence in Education, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, published a report this week touting ESAs as a promising way to shake up public education. “We need our policymakers to be much more daring,” the report urged.
They claim they will start with a low percentage allowed, but I say this is just a foot in the door. Just a start.
