Thank you Sean!
From: Sean Andrews ;sean.johnson.andrews@gmail.com;
Date: Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Subject: private schools
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-12-08/news/new-times-mckay-scholarship-expose-prompts-reform-of-a-billion-dollar-educational-catastrophe/
Program above where private company provided services to disabled students. $1 billion boondoggle.
Here's a few GAO reports on public vs. private. Note that the terminology in this one
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-62
not "private" but "privately managed." Many of our conceptions of private schools are wrapped up in ideas about them being little Ivy league academies, when the reality on the ground at the moment is that many of the schools we refer to as private (and that politicians refer to as private) are more like McDonald's franchises you pay for with tax dollars.
It's been almost ten years since this report was released, but my sense is that, on the whole, there is not a lot more improvement in either the schools themselves or the methods for comparing them with public schools. Since public schools are being starved by this process, it is also not quite a fair fight: comparing insufficiently funded public schools with insufficiently experienced private schools is useful as a metric for making decisions today, but it is not a good index for the path public policy should take in the future.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-11
When it comes down to it, the question of public vs. private is a red herring. As in doing things like choosing a doctor or buying investment, we feel uncomfortable making decisions about complicated matters, decisions that require a lot of research and education in order to make an informed choice. It is tiring to have to think about these things, and especially so when they are so politically and culturally charged. It is easier when we can fall back on commonplace stereotypes. In every case, our ultimate decision is made on a particular doctor or school or investment. And in each case--but especially in the case of schools--your job is not (and in some ways cannot) be over once you make that decision. If we want good schools, we have to stay engaged, help teachers, students, and administrators create positive learning environments for everyone, and offer help and support when needed. This will be true whether you spend thousands of extra dollars on private school or opt to find a decent public school in your neighborhood.
The idea that private schools are naturally better than public has been honed by years of class-based propaganda. And now, after years of attacking and defunding the public system (using supposedly objective testing standards as an index), there is a flourishing market that uses public government money - citizen tax dollars - to fund private schools with little oversight in terms of curriculum and without mandates to serve students with disabilities. Putting our eggs in that basket is a perverse form of hubris that assumes our kid will never have learning problems or require special attention; our kid will never be one who gets forced out for having low test scores, behavioral problems, or any of the number of arbitrary reasons the mutant private system declares them invalid. Then you either have to pay even more for some specialized academy (if that's available) or you have to rely on the public system you starved for resources, but which is the only one forced by law to help your kid.
I know you know this, but I see this as the best answer to the question the blog poses. Namely, the issue isn't public vs. private per se, but researching the best forms of teaching and learning and creating institutions with that as their main goal. This means wrenching the system of public education from the thriving industry of testing, giving educators the respect and autonomy they deserve, and creating environments that will actually produce positive results for all students and, thus, for society at large. In the current environment, the draw of private schools and charters (at their best) is that they allow for alternative models. I don't know how to scale this so that you can allow for experimentation without opening the door for dilettante startups merely looking to make a quick buck on the backs of our children. But I think engaged, educated parents and student advocates will be an essential part of the mix.
Subject: private schools
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-12-08/news/new-times-mckay-scholarship-expose-prompts-reform-of-a-billion-dollar-educational-catastrophe/
Program above where private company provided services to disabled students. $1 billion boondoggle.
Here's a few GAO reports on public vs. private. Note that the terminology in this one
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-62
not "private" but "privately managed." Many of our conceptions of private schools are wrapped up in ideas about them being little Ivy league academies, when the reality on the ground at the moment is that many of the schools we refer to as private (and that politicians refer to as private) are more like McDonald's franchises you pay for with tax dollars.
It's been almost ten years since this report was released, but my sense is that, on the whole, there is not a lot more improvement in either the schools themselves or the methods for comparing them with public schools. Since public schools are being starved by this process, it is also not quite a fair fight: comparing insufficiently funded public schools with insufficiently experienced private schools is useful as a metric for making decisions today, but it is not a good index for the path public policy should take in the future.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-11
When it comes down to it, the question of public vs. private is a red herring. As in doing things like choosing a doctor or buying investment, we feel uncomfortable making decisions about complicated matters, decisions that require a lot of research and education in order to make an informed choice. It is tiring to have to think about these things, and especially so when they are so politically and culturally charged. It is easier when we can fall back on commonplace stereotypes. In every case, our ultimate decision is made on a particular doctor or school or investment. And in each case--but especially in the case of schools--your job is not (and in some ways cannot) be over once you make that decision. If we want good schools, we have to stay engaged, help teachers, students, and administrators create positive learning environments for everyone, and offer help and support when needed. This will be true whether you spend thousands of extra dollars on private school or opt to find a decent public school in your neighborhood.
The idea that private schools are naturally better than public has been honed by years of class-based propaganda. And now, after years of attacking and defunding the public system (using supposedly objective testing standards as an index), there is a flourishing market that uses public government money - citizen tax dollars - to fund private schools with little oversight in terms of curriculum and without mandates to serve students with disabilities. Putting our eggs in that basket is a perverse form of hubris that assumes our kid will never have learning problems or require special attention; our kid will never be one who gets forced out for having low test scores, behavioral problems, or any of the number of arbitrary reasons the mutant private system declares them invalid. Then you either have to pay even more for some specialized academy (if that's available) or you have to rely on the public system you starved for resources, but which is the only one forced by law to help your kid.
I know you know this, but I see this as the best answer to the question the blog poses. Namely, the issue isn't public vs. private per se, but researching the best forms of teaching and learning and creating institutions with that as their main goal. This means wrenching the system of public education from the thriving industry of testing, giving educators the respect and autonomy they deserve, and creating environments that will actually produce positive results for all students and, thus, for society at large. In the current environment, the draw of private schools and charters (at their best) is that they allow for alternative models. I don't know how to scale this so that you can allow for experimentation without opening the door for dilettante startups merely looking to make a quick buck on the backs of our children. But I think engaged, educated parents and student advocates will be an essential part of the mix.
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