This is as modern day Dickensian as anything I have ever seen; the GOP is morally bankrupt, ethically indefensible, and as far from being an actual 'values' party as is humanly possible.
While there are exceptions, magnet schools and charter schools under-perform mainstream public schools. Schools in red state Mississippi are mostly on a par with 3rd world countries (or below) because they are backward people who do not support actual education -- or perhaps they just have been backward for so long, they no longer know the difference. THIS is the result of right wing ideology and red state thinking.
While there are exceptions, magnet schools and charter schools under-perform mainstream public schools. Schools in red state Mississippi are mostly on a par with 3rd world countries (or below) because they are backward people who do not support actual education -- or perhaps they just have been backward for so long, they no longer know the difference. THIS is the result of right wing ideology and red state thinking.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you DG.
ReplyDelete"While there are exceptions, magnet schools and charter schools under-perform mainstream public schools."
Now I'm not going to disagree with your statement, as I tend to agree, and have good reason to. My disagreement is with the title of your post. For instance, the Chicago Teacher's Union is battling the city right now, because our Mayor, you may know him better as former Chief of Staff Emanuel is trying to implant charter schools in Chicago.
I have to disagree with your statement about charter schools and wonder why it was included in this hit against the tragic situation in Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why it is that Rom Emanuel is pushiing that, but the majority of the time, it has been a GOP push to wreck our public school system so they can privatize them in some way -- and insert their factually disastrous crappy fact-free forced Christian tea bagger agenda where they just make shit up.
ReplyDeleteThe reason is simple and something I've been preaching for the last 18 months. The Unions are under siege. But not JUST from the GOP. Emanuel wants Charter schools for one simple reason, NO UNIONS. Our city, and our state is a bastardization of the Progressive movement. It truly is. Our Mayor complains about how broke the city is, then issues statements that it is due to over inflated pensions. But as broke as the city is, they were still able to hand out $25 gift cards to Walgreens, for any parent that participated in report card pick up, and parent/teacher conferences. Imagine that, we in Chicago are being destroyed because of Union pensions. But we need to offer incentives to parents just to participate in their own child's lives. The Progressive movement today is not what was intended in the 1890's, and IMO, Chicago is proof.
DeleteBecause there are multiple studies showing that overall, they are under performing.
ReplyDeleteThat has been documented in multiple places:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/24/study-charter-school-performance/
and here, as two examples: http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Organizing-a-school/Charter-schools-Finding-out-the-facts-At-a-glance
Some charters do better; the majority do the same or worse. CREDO also moved beyond individual student performance to examine the overall performance of charter schools across multiple subject areas. They found that while some charter schools do better than the traditional public schools that fed them, the majority do the same or worse. Almost one-fifth of charters (17 percent) performed significantly better (at the 95 percent confidence level) than the traditional public school. However, an even larger group of charters (37 percent) performed significantly worse in terms of reading and math. The remainder (46 percent) did not do significantly better or worse.
Charter schools are promoted by the Obama administration because they innovate, and advocates for strong federal support, including funding, and performance metrics (from what I've read).
Republican notions about charter schools appear to be used as an opportunity to try to be cheap regarding educations, to weaken curricula by injecting ideology to replace academic content - as in tea party text books that are factually inaccurate --- and as a way to privatize education for profit rather than performance in place of public education. It is part of their effort to dismantle public education, so they can push things like abstinence only sex ed.
Which is why the the Mississippi example is provided; they have taken the bad road in co-opting magnet and charter schools for purposes that have nothing to do with quality education.
Obama has advocated adequate funding, but also trying to stress what works, and weeding out under performing kinds of schools.
The REPUBLICAN version of charter schools is what was 'hit' here, the exploitative and partisan aspect, in its ultimate form - but a form that is still consistent with this kind of charter school for profit at the less extreme level.
Sadly in Chicago, it does NOT seem that Rom Emanuel is behind the funding of charter schools, which is inconsistent with the 'good' efforts to promote them for real education, not private profit or right wing indoctrination.
Let me add I believe we need to spend more, not less on our schools, pay teachers and other staff well, not attack unions (which is different than not reforming where there is a problem) and certainly not demonizing schools where the problem is that students are hungry, homeless, or lack the other aspects of stability and support to perform well - as in some of the areas with poverty. We need to evaluate teachers on what they can do, but not hold them hostage where other factors outside their control, not their teaching practices, are the problem for performance.
ReplyDeleteThat we have schools in serious need of major physical overhaul (as with our roads and bridges) is a disgrace and great shame for this nation.
I'm all for alternative education, just not for the hijacking of it to teach creationism, etc., or line someone's pockets.
The link between the two - private profit, and right wing hijacking, BOTH right wing, combined in Mississippi.
DeleteDo you disagree?