Today I will discuss the third most common myth in education: Public schools are not providing our children with high quality instructions, especially in reading and math, and as a result, our students are falling further and further behind the children in other countries.
People who make this argument tend to be republicans, like Governor Walker (R-WI), who makes this argument as a justification for privatizing schools. Often he and his fellow republicans will cite the achievement of inner city kids, whose achievement increased following their enrollment in charter schools, magnet schools or parochial schools. What they don’t know is the fact that the data is skewed for the following reasons: Charter schools, magnet schools, parochial schools, and other private schools carefully screen their potential students to ensure that those factors that guarantee student success are in place: All teachers, including private school teachers, know that children who have parents that supports learning – dads and moms who check their homework daily; and encourage them to give their best effort on all task; and ensure that they go to school with books, assignments, pencils and all other tools for learning – are likely to succeed, especially when these mom’s and dad’s have formed strong partnership with the teachers and communicate with them on a weekly basis. In private schools it is mandatory for parents to agree to do all the above. They are required to sign a contract with the school in which they agree to become partners with the school by supporting learning at home and at schools. Children, whose parents fail to live up to the terms of the contract, are expelled and their enrollment terminated.
In public schools parental involvement in their children’s learning is optional. Public schools can only encourage parents to become involve (and they do), but they do not have the authority to expel children whose parents will not, or in many cases, cannot (parents who work at night, families living in their cars, etc) support their learning. If public schools screened their students like the private schools, they would produce student achievement levels that are as high as the private school or higher. However, most of us who teach public school would no want this option because it would leave the children whose home is the family car, the children whose only meal of the day is the one the school provides, the children whose best and safest time of the day are the hours spent in school, and the children whose only hug or encouraging words are going to come from a teacher, without any place to go to get these things. What most Americans do not realize is the fact that these are some of our teachers’ most important concerns during collective bargaining!
In tomorrow’s blog (Policies, Politicians, and School Reform --Part 5), I will the address the fourth incorrect assumption in education: Reward the outstanding teachers by giving them more money.
