Replies

I have a couple of ideas as to why parents don't take advantage of these options.

First is ignorance. These opportunities are not widely advertised. I heard about the charter school during a radio interview on the Mike Rosen show. If I hadn't heard that, I never would have. The school district rarely mentions us.

Next is other people telling horror stories or guilting parents out of something different. People want to feel good about their choices. When I told my neighbors about the school my daughter was going to attend, I asked if they wanted info. Not one wanted it. The neighborhood school is, in my opinion, horrendous. But all the kids in my cul-de-sac attend. The parents like it or so they say.

Another thing is shear laziness in finding out about each school. In Colorado we have open enrollment, meaning any child can attend any school in any district in the state if there is available space. I looked at every school within a ten mile radius of my house. Only about 3% take advantage of this. The parents would have to arrange trransportation.

One more thing is total faith in teachers. I love my daughter's school and her teacher's. I have asked for advice and will take it under advisement. But I have seen parents who expect some 24 year old just out of college to have the answers to their kids every problem. Parents have been dumbed down so much that they need an expert opinion for everything. Now remember this in a school of choice. Imagine what parents of kids in regular school believe. It scares me to see people place their kids' futures so completely in the hands of people they barely know, but they do it everyday.

All I can do is to keep telling people about their options and hope they will make the right choices.

When I told my cousins, who are teachers in N.Y., that my daughter was in a charter, they thought I was nuts. I didn't realize until recently that N.Y. charters are designed to fail so the experiment will just go away.

Anyhow Dennis, keep your options open and investigate every school you may consider for your kids before you send them.

David, I think Betty Jane may have meant to ping you on her reply above, in answer to your question. I would like to comment on her points from a FL perspective as I believe she is in CO:

First is ignorance....

Here in FL, I believe the school districts are required by law to post on their school district web sites or elsewhere information about the special ed scholarsip/voucher program, and I believe when a school is failing, the local papers cover it extensively and the school must also provide info to the parents. (1) Now, do all parents receive what info is sent home? (2) Do all parents read what they get in the mail? (3) Can all parents read? I know the answers in some cases are (1) no, (2) no, and (3) no. Consequently, I believe in FL efforts are made, repeatedly, to inform parents, but, such efforts may not be successful.

Next is other people telling horror stories or guilting parents out of something different. People want to feel good about their choices.

I strongly agree with what Betty Jane said here. If the union spent just half as much genuinely trying to work with Gov Bush abd his policies as it does publicly complaining about him, FL would be #1 in education. Some of the media is no help either, because some media constantly presents a biased anti-school choice view, frightening people with inaccurate informatin. I will post a recent example later on this thread, and Gov Bush's letter to the editor.

Another thing is shear laziness in finding out about each school.

Yep. Some people who can read, and would be open to new ideas, are simply to lazy to find out.

One more thing is total faith in teachers.

This is a valid point too, even though I myself am a teacher. As much as I may try to accurately assess a student, and learn all about that student, a parent is the one who knows even more about the child. Also, as a teacher, I am not a doctor (as a doctor is the only one the parent should consult about drugs like Ritilin), and I refuse to offer an opinion about such matters. In addition, even an expert teacher, who means well, can be wrong in some matters. Just as doctors can be wrong. And lawyers can be wrong. It is possible and it does happen.

A teacher who is truly a professional will always try to work with a parent, and not against a parent. And, both the parent and the teacher can, and should be, on the same side, working for the benefit of: the student.

When this does happen, the student is well aware of the team effort -- and responds to school situations in a very different way than the student who knows the parent hates the school and teachers.

For that teacher, life can be a nightmare, even if the teacher is an outstanding teacher -- and, wants to work with the parent.