“Merely getting public schools that have huge enrollments and the inability to choose any of their students to imitate what happens in certain charter schools won’t work.”
You’re certainly entitled to be an apologist for the public schools, I just don’t have to join you.
Yes, I who home schooled my kids am an apologist for the public schools.
You must be reading something different than what I am writing to conclude that. Rather, I am not forming my opinion from having watched one narrowly focused documentary. I know that some charter schools work, and some don't, but I also know that any school that can be highly selective with teachers and the number of students it enrolls will work better than a public school that doesn't have a choice. That is one of the reasons home schooling works so well, better than the charter schools. When a school is bound by law to accept every student in its district, that includes students who want to learn and students who don't, parents who care, and parents who don't, it is far more difficult to get student cooperation. ...To get that cooperation, schools could use corporal punishment, as you suggested, but they won't. As I type NM is trying to pass a bill that will allow districts to decide whether or not they want to use corporal punishment. I don't know the status of the bill, but even if it passes, I know most districts will opt out. They are already burdened with lawsuits from sue happy parents whose only involvement with public schools and their children's education is through the courts.
But, I digress. Simply put, most public school systems couldn't follow the example of small charter schools if they wanted to, and corporal punishment isn't much of an option.
Another point that should be mentioned is that the schools in the documentary are using standardized tests as their yard stick. The Catholic Schools of days gone by would laugh a that. Even the very first DC schools for black children would get a chuckle. They had the highest standards in the nation, but times, culture and parents were different then, not to mention school populations.
I'm not an apologist for public schools, just a realist who has a better understanding of the problems than you do.
You are an apologist for irresponsible parenting, whereas I think parents should be responsible for their children, and that includes taking responsibility for their education. My first choice would be for them to unburden the taxpayers and home school. They should shoot for a higher yard stick than standardized tests while they are at it. If they can't home school, they should try for private schools, or work with their churches and communities to form private schools. If they must burden the taxpayers by having their kids in public schools, they should still accept responsibility for their education. ...I am an apologist for parental responsibility.