Schoolchildren Have Much at Stake in This Election

Sunday, October 14, 2012

"Why?" she asks - constantly. My granddaughter will turn 4 in April, and she is naturally inquisitive, especially when she's told to do something she doesn't want to do.

As a stepfather, I missed out on my children's early years. Finding that balance between teaching a child the necessary skill of following instructions and nurturing that single-word question that is at the heart of analytical thinking is new to me.

How that balance is managed, not just at home where her mother and grandmother can compensate for my inexperience, but in her schools, will be critical to her ability to achieve her full potential.

That's why my granddaughter has as much at stake in the upcoming election as anybody I know. The issue is, are we willing to invest the time and resources necessary to repair our faltering public school system, or do we let it wither and offer "choices"?

To answer that, we need to understand those choices which involve some degree of privatization - either charter schools, or vouchers for private schools - and their implications.

There are currently 115 charter schools operating in North Carolina, with 25 more approved for the 2013-2014 school year and another 63 under consideration. Like traditional public schools, charter schools are funded by tax dollars. The differences are that they are administered by private firms that seek to maximize results, that they are less regulated than public schools, and that they are not required to offer transportation, so they may be less accessible.

Considering the extra leeway afforded to charter schools, you might expect significantly improved results from them. Not so, according to a study by researchers at Stanford University looking at the performance of charter schools in 25 states, including North Carolina. According to Jeff Faux, founder of the Economic Policy Institute, the study found that 17 percent of charter school students performed better than their public school counterparts, 46 percent no better and 37 percent worse.

Along with charter schools, Mitt Romney offers as part of his plan, "Allow low-income and special-needs students to choose which school to attend by making Title I and IDEA funds portable" - that is, vouchers for low-income and special-needs students to attend private schools.

That makes for a good sound bite, but it falls considerably short of a comprehensive solution. Would private schools be required to take all low-income and special-need students? What about low-income students who lack transportation or students whose guardians earn too much to qualify as low-income but cannot afford private school tuition?

As part of his plan for education in North Carolina, GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory suggests a two-track system for high schools - one for academics and the other (with help from the private sector) for vocational training. The opportunity for vocational training in high schools is a great idea - in addition to, not separate from, academic training.

These choices do not fix a broken education system; they merely abandon a segment of the population that those who offer them are not interested in helping. They exacerbate the regression of the American education to separate and unequal, with the potential to create a perpetual underclass.

Anti-bias activist Michaela Pommells sees education reform as racism. In a column for the Huffington Post, she wrote, " Let's face it: Race inequity may not be a deliberate goal of education policy and practice (or maybe it is) but neither is it accidental. The result is a whole lot of seemingly well-meaning people trying to evoke change in an education system that never intended to educate people of color in the first place."

Without a doubt, the risk of GOP education reform falls disproportionately upon minorities, but it is just as much an issue of class. The anemic upward mobility of low- and middle-income households is threatened, regardless of race.

Just as with fracking, the limited potential for improving the lives of a substantial number of North Carolinians comes with copious corporate backing - in this case, from companies that see the increased privatization of education as a potential revenue stream. Also like fracking, you should not expect that stream to flow very much downhill.

My granddaughter deserves the same chance as children of families with the means to ensure that they never have to settle for a vocational diploma. Let us resolve to undertake the difficult mission of reviving public education, because no child's potential should be limited by circumstances not of his or her making.

Kevin Smith lives in Aberdeen. Contact him at kevinasmith@gmx.com.

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justpassingby2 7 months, 1 week ago

What did the three stooges (obama, reid, pelosi) do about public education? Nothing. They think No Child Left Behind is just fine, after all it came from the administration of one of the greatest thinkers of our time!

MikeNC 7 months, 1 week ago

Kevin: If you think Teacher Unions are the way to keep going and a bloated Department of Education, is the way to keep going, Vote Obama. But before you do, why not take a few minutes to see how we rate in the world towards expediture of educating our students and how we are still consistently rated lower. Hint: The amount of money spent on our youth's education is getting dumped and wasted into Teacher Unions and the bloated Government Department of Educatoin. The wasted money on these ventures compared to using these monies to get impoverished kids into charter schools and out of detoriating inner schools, would be a major step towards these kids succeeding in life. Diane

citizen 7 months, 1 week ago

My first intention was to comment on the article, but then I read the post from MikeNC (or Diane). Oh my, it's sure easy to spot someone who gets their ideas straight from Neal Boortz. I agree with Boortz on some things, but he's straight-out bananas on the issue of public education, or "government schools" as he calls them.

I'll tell you something else; what the NC legislature has done to public education is a shameful disgrace, and it should be on every voter's mind on election day in my opinion. Funding has been reduced for 3 or 4 years straight when NC schools are already among the least well-funded in the nation. I voted for Blake and Boles because I veer to the conservative side, but what the GOP did when they gained control was vindictive politics plain and simple. I won't make that mistake again.

I don't agree with everything Mr. Smith writes, but at least he speaks civilly and doesn't go off half cocked with half-truths and wacked-out Boortzisms.

MikeNC 7 months, 1 week ago

Citizen, check out some of the charter schools and their success rates in such dire strait areas, such as Detroit, MI. The teacher's strike in Chicago was also an eye opener, to see the percentage of kids in their schools barely able to read, while the teachers there are getting the highest paid salaries in America. Then there was the Atlanta, Ga scandal of teachers cheating to make sure THEY got the passing grade to get raises. Then you had Obama on DAY one, who deleted voucher programs in inner city DC, so the kids there could not go to better schools. The list goes on.You are dead wrong, No I am no Boortz fan and don't need Boortz to tell me there is a problem within our Education system. There are good public school teachers, but there are also bad teachers who should of either retired or found a new line of work, but they have Tenure. Judging by the way you adressed me, as half Cocked and a Boortzism follower, I have a hard time believing you are of the Right. Diane

citizen 7 months, 1 week ago

Diane, Here's where I agree with you: the department of education is essentially a waste. Charter schools can be very effective. In my opinion, it's because their charter allows them some autonomy, or localized control. Our schools unfortunately are forsaking their long traditions of local control in favor of more centralized control. I would be careful assuming that what works well in some charter schools will necessarily work in all situations. Nor do I believe that a voucher system is some sort of panacea for all the ills of public schools. The GOP party line though seems to seek a simple solution regarding education: vouchers and merit-based pay for teachers. Real reform must go deeper than that. I would prefer that Romney and Obama have no real say about the direction of public schools as I believe it's more a local concern. I wish I had more time to continue, but I need to go. If I get a chance I'll chime back in later. Sorry if I offended you with the Boortz label, but he's a champion of the right wing, so maybe you're not really that far right.