Simple - you throw God out of our kids lives and you open the door to Satan! - imho
School Choice is a winning issue for the GOP. Let parents use their tax money to fund their children’s education wherever they want. The only folks who will suffer are the Teachers Unions at government schools. And they don’t vote GOP anyway. But I don’t think the GOP is looking for winning issues.
Schools "open to everyone" cannot succeed in this century.
9/8/2019
Washington DC charter schools did not significantly outperform public schools or even match them on the last two years of PARCC testing. These disappointing results for the charter school industry come almost a quarter-century after Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich teamed up to bring neoliberal education reform to Washington DC. As their “reforms” accelerated, residents were assured that innovative privatized schools would bring better outcomes and performance gaps would close.
https://tultican.com/2019/09/08/dc-charter-school-performance-almost-matches-public-schools/
NOTE: The author of that almost certainly is leftist.
Let’s go to an urban school which once primarily served Jewish students.
I suspect many of its graduates did quite well in life.
What are the differences now?
The government will still try to worm their way in - esp. to place restrictions on churches. I’m a little irked by it as well as it sounds a lot like, “Hey, you churches... give us your facilities but not your Jesus, and everything will work out just fine!” Our problems as a country are just symptoms of our abandonment of God and his Word. We traded Truth for the elites ‘wisdom.’ Yes, John Dewey, I’m looking at you. We are now reaping what we’ve sown - but not yet willing to repent.
Put Dr. Carol Swain in charge.
I can FIX the Public School system in 24 hours EASILY!!
One Executive Order by the Presid3ent will do it:
All Public Employee’s Shall be required to send their offspring to the Public School in their neighborhood or be Terminated Immediately and ALL Pension and Retirement Benefits will be rescinded. All States shall Guarantee that every Public Employee in their State also has their offspring enrolled in the Public School System or that State will receive NO Federal Funds for anything.
Problem Solved, Make them live by their very own rules.
The demographics are different now. 79% hispanic, 3% asian, 2% black, 12% white. Math proficiency 29%. Reading proficiency 57%. Graduation rate 93%. It is now a top 50% school instead of a top 10% school.
The campus is expanded significantly from the time I graduated. Air conditioners in classrooms. Foreign language offering including Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Spanish. A robotics facility is present. Far more classroom space. The football field/track is nicely upgraded. No more door knobs. Classes have a deadbolt key and a pull handle. Lockers are bolted closed. The poorer performance is certainly not for lack of investment in physical facilities or curriculum.
I was educated at public schools, from kindergarten to 12th grade in Arizona. That included honors and AP classes in high school, as well as accurate American History and Civics. This education got me into MIT and Harvard!
Alas, that was a very long time ago. Now we need education plans that bypass the teachers’ unions and woke administrators. That is very hard for many parents, students, and communities. Besides that, MIT and Harvard are not what they used to be. Lord have Mercy!!
He doesn't explain why, probably because he doesn't know much about co-ops.
Then, he explains what he thinks would be right for everyone.
And what he describes sounds like... a homeschool co-op:
"All it will take is a group of dedicated, determined parents working hand-in-hand with local pastors, community leaders, and other experts in areas like education, law, finance, and marketing. Some of those experts would no doubt be the parents themselves, bringing to the table whatever knowledge and experience they have acquired. If they put their minds to it, I am confident such a group could procure a facility, raise the necessary money to get started, hire a handful of teachers (and/or recruit qualified parent volunteers), and launch a school."
That's not a new idea. Homeschool parents have been doing that for decades. A group of parents finds a church facility to rent. They get the word out to other homeschool parents. Then, everyone commits to a small fee toward renting the facility. The church brings in money that way, and the students have a place to meet. The parents (many of whom have college degrees themselves) commit to teach classes and volunteer. Sometimes, certified teachers teach classes.
His idea differs from co-ops... only because he hasn't thought it all through:
(1) He writes: " with a little hard work, a relatively small group of committed individuals could probably have a school up and running by next fall." He wants schools, but he hasn't considered accreditation. To be considered a "school," accreditation from an agency is required, which may take a year or two. Plus, accreditation costs money, and then the school must answer to an agency.
(2) Unlike homeschool co-ops, his "schools" would meet every day on a typical school schedule, and parents (who work those hours) could drop off their kids. But, he says nothing about liability. His idea would put the "school" and its church at risk for lawsuits. Liability insurance is another cost to consider.
(3) He writes: "...perhaps a large and affluent church would like to take on this project itself as a service to the community, using its own facilities, human capital, and donations from its members." This has been tried by churches in my area. Most of those schools closed down because the tuition became too expensive. There are more costs required with a "school" than this writer has considered. Many churches struggle just to keep the lights on. Fundraisers and donations might offset some costs, but not dependably.
He's right that parents could remove their children from public school. But, he makes the wrong assumptions about homeschooling, and he hasn't thought everything through.