The purpose of this post is to discuss charter schools, a topic that was inspired by reading a paper written by one of the MTC second-year teachers, Evan Couzo. This post is very indecisively written and I will have to resist the need to continually revise it. Anyway, Couzo's paper asserts that charter schools and voucher programs are a new development in education has served to increase student performance.
This is has prompted me to revisit a thought that has been circulating in my head for years. Are public schools as we know them are worth saving? Would it just be better to cut our losses and try something new?
The state of Mississippi is perhaps the most stark picture of public school failure. By most measurements, the public schools are among the nation's worst. Those with the most resources (middle and upper class whites) have abandoned the system. Those with the least (poor blacks) are trapped in it.
From what I gather from the films and hearing MTC teachers, the situation on the ground is not always the best (to be subtle). Administration and teachers are often on totally different pages. Members of one or both of the groups could be grossly incompetent in their jobs and are not invested in the success or failure of the students since they most likely will have a job the next year doing the exact same thing. Children are slipping through the cracks, making it to high school wihtout basic math or literacy skills.
Are charter schools the answer? If we exposed public education to competition, would things get better? Couzo's paper seems to suggest so. I have heard many competing studies on the issue and I think it is less clear cut than he suggests. Either way, it is clear that we have very little to lose. We already have a flawed product and to me it is worth risking for something better.
In theory, as a teacher (maybe even a long-term one), I don't think I should be scared of facing competition from others schools or teachers. If my peers and I good teachers, students will want to come to my class and school. The charter school survives another day. If my peers and I are bad teachers, my school will fail to keep its charter and it would be a good sign that I need to look at other career paths.
It is a little disturbing to me that schools are increasingly being exposed to market forces. I always thought education was about a community providing a common good to its children. It makes me sad that the community has given up on a lot of its kids and that now we must seek competition as our savior.
A guy goes to Mississippi to change the world. And by change the world I mean hopefully survive teaching high school English. Let's see how it goes.
2 comments:
I wonder if a charter school that is run on the basis of a profit will really be held accountable for its academic performance at all. We don't see privately run corporations being held accountable for how they treat their workers, what they do to the environment, or the harm their products may actually do to consumers. I tend to think that this would end up being another way for people to exploit poor families for profit. The problem to me seems to be less an issue of the public giving up on kids, but one of political representation that is not commited to the welfare of poor and mostly black people in the Delta.
Correction. Not necessarily for profit but with a financial accountability that might outweigh the public service accountability of the school.
Post a Comment