I recently wrote about how public schools and boards are making the case for school choice advocates with failing scores and rising controversies. The latest shocking statistic was released this week that 23 schools in Baltimore City had zero students who tested proficient in math. Those schools include 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three Middle/High schools and two Elementary/Middle schools. The state found that 2,000 students who took the state test could not do math at grade level.
We previously discussed the Baltimore public educational system as an example of where billions of dollars have been spent on a system that continues to have appalling scores and standards. Recent data now offers another chilling statistic: 41 percent of students in the Baltimore system have a 1.0 (D) GPA or less.
We also discussed how a high school student almost graduated near the top half of his class after failing every class but three in four years. He had a 0.13 GPA. His mother objected and went public.
The top spending public school districts are also some of the worst performing school districts. New York topped the per capita spending at $24,040 per kid. Washington, D.C. is close at $22,759. Baltimore is often ranked in the top three per capita spending districts. The total budget for Baltimore public schools is roughly $1.2 billion. That is for a city with a total population of roughly 600,000 (The greater Baltimore metropolitan area is 2.8 million). In 2015, the school population was 84,000 kids.
Faced with school boards and teacher unions resisting parental objections to school policies over curriculum and social issues, states are on the brink of a transformative change. For years, boards and teacher unions have treated parents as unwelcome interlopers in their children’s education.
That view was captured this month in the comment of Iowa school board member Rachel Wall, who said: “The purpose of a public ed is to not teach kids what the parents want. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client is not the parent, but the community.”
State Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Wis.) tweeted: “If parents want to ‘have a say’ in their child’s education, they should home school or pay for private school tuition out of their family budget.”
As public schools continue to produce abysmal scores, particularly for minority students, board and union officials have called for lowering or suspending proficiency standards or declared meritocracy to be a form of “white supremacy.” Gifted and talented programs are being eliminated in the name of “equity.”
Once parents have a choice, these teachers lose a virtual monopoly over many families, and these districts could lose billions in states like Florida.
Reports like the one out of Baltimore only fuel this trend to allow desperate parents to find alternatives for their children. It is a failure on a colossal scale. Yet, there is little accountability for the elected officials in these cities as generations are left with little future without basic skills.
Teachers and boards are killing the institution of public education by treating children and parents more like captives than consumers. That cannot continue much longer before parents look for alternatives.
Math isn’t racist.
Racists just can’t do math.
Seattle Public Schools consider closures as student enrollment plunges post-pandemic
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/seattle-public-schools-consider-closures-student-enrollment-plunges-post
Education is the true battlefield.
Thanks leftists. Sure glad I don’t have kids that are going to have to deal with this F’ed up world you morons have created.
Managed decline of America, dumb them down and make more people dependent on Government.
Follow the money and it leads back to corrupt politicians and corrupt teachers’ unions.
DEMOcrats and DEMOgraphics are the problem.
Does it really matter in the long run? All Stem jobs are being shipped to china or H1B’s are being imported to the US to taken any jobs left.
The republic is being lost to corporatism. The Republicans are leading this charge, but leading Democrats are not dismayed. They are both complicit in the degradation of our system of self-governance.
Those schools are failing because parents and taxpayers failed to take responsibility for local education.
Schools are struggling because the Federal/State/and even Local corporatist/administrative state and our foolish representatives eroded local control, bit by bit by bit for the last 50 years and we the people stood by gnashing our teeth.
A massive propaganda campaign is charging ahead to get you to hand over more of your power, more of your control (and to get you to do it with your neighbor’s money) to corporations. Our republican self-governance is being taken out at the knees if people continue to follow along with the propaganda.
Your hard-earned taxes will follow a child to some cyber or brick and mortar charter school (one of 10, at least) or a private school via vouchers. You can’t keep track of 10 different schools to make sure your money isn’t being wasted. It is hard enough to do that with one public school district! Is your money being spent on things you approve of? You cannot know–it is scattered at 10 different schools. And, even if you tried, those boards do not have to listen to you–they were not elected by anyone. You are expected to hand over your money and just trust that it will be used wisely. Trust unelected people to make wise decisions with your money that other people decided to use as they wished.
It is a uni-party democrats are not democrats they are communists Republicans are losers
“Those schools are failing because parents and taxpayers failed to take responsibility for local education.”
Are you asking for more of the same or are you ready to force public schools to compete. Lack of competition leads to the type of complacency you are seeing.
“You can’t keep track of 10 different schools to make sure your money isn’t being wasted.”
If “You” can’t keep track of one then “You” can’t keep track of 10. Time to let competition in so parents can choose what they think is best. The public and charter schools in NYC show you how well your ideas are working out. Here is one example of what one sees.
ASSEMBLY ACADEMY FOR FUTURE [PUBLIC SCHOOL]
8th grade
26 well below proficient
45 below proficient
24 proficient
5 above proficient
—–
Success Academy [CHARTER SCHOOL]
8th grade
0 well below proficient
5 below proficient
41 proficient
54 above proficient
SOURCE: New York State Education Department
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
Do you really think change is not in order?
“Lack of competition leads to the type of complacency you are seeing.”
I don’t think that is where complacency comes from.
It comes from losing your sense of duty and responsibility.
It comes from asking, as Cain did, Am I my brother’s keeper? Rather than, Who is my neighbor?
“I don’t think that is where complacency comes from.”
The complicated nature of politics and activism is too complicated and time-consuming for many people to deal with, especially where those people are of low socioeconomic means and uneducated. You are asking for more of the same.
Provide two or three choices, and the community will become involved and choose what they think is best. The only reason you don’t like charter schools in a competitive environment, despite your protestations, is that you want no competition with public schools. You are entrenched in the idea of public schools even where charter schools have vastly improved the education of those most denied the ability to enter mainstream USA.
Look at the numbers provided from NYC. There are over one million students in NYC public schools. Show me your evidence. Tell me the number of public school students in your city, which is what you are familiar with, and which helps you draw your conclusions.
“The only reason you don’t like charter schools in a competitive environment, despite your protestations, is that you want no competition with public schools.”
People’s hard-earned tax dollars should not be used this way–private gain, public loss. You are advocating for a fascist system.
If you feel that way then you should not support our public school system at all. Everyone in the system is making money including teachers unions that have become political entities.
You would also be against government funding of roads, and municipal buildings. After all public money is going to private enterprises,
I’m advocating for parental choice where results have to be equal to or better than the results of the public school system. You are voting for inferior education standards and money going to political entities.
S. Meyer,
“You would also be against government funding of roads, and municipal buildings. After all public money is going to private enterprises”
No. That is over-simplifying the issue.
There are votes by councils of people we elected to represent us, bids, and pretty close accountability by taxpayers. Potholes and burned-out street lights are easily observed.
Unelected parents take their neighbors’ tax dollars and spend it at charter schools that also do not have elected boards. This is not a good or fair use of taxpayer dollars.
Taxpayers cannot easily discuss the state of the charter schools with their neighbors who have children because the children at charter schools are all scattered about at different schools. There is no way for taxpayers to have oversight over these schools, and it appears no one really has much oversight if the waste at places at PA Cyber is any indication (what public school gives a family a new horseshoe game kit for every child entering third grade?! Public schools use a few horseshoe game kits for the whole school and reuse the kits for years and years!). Any taxpayer concerns that do eventually reach the charter school boards will very likely fall on deaf ears because they were not elected by those taxpayers.
On top of that, charter schools use the taxpayer money they get from unelected parents coming to their schools for advertising to try to induce even more parents to use their neighbors’ tax dollars to go to charter schools.
Sure seems like taxpayers are getting milked like a cow.
“No. That is over-simplifying the issue.”
Tell me how a road contractor is different than a school contractor.
“Potholes and burned-out street lights are easily observed.”
So are children that can’t count.
“Unelected parents take their neighbors’ tax dollars and spend it at charter schools that also do not have elected boards.”
Not so. The government allocates tax dollars to others responsible for ensuring the schools or roads meet specified standards.
” There is no way for taxpayers to have oversight over these schools” [charter]
NYC proves you wrong. They showed that charter schools used properly had better oversight to ensure the proper education of students.
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
” to try to induce even more parents to use their neighbors’ tax dollars to go to charter schools.”
With the numbers seen above, it is no wonder parents are asking for more charter schools in NYC.
“Sure seems like taxpayers are getting milked like a cow.”
Refer to the data, and you will find that public schools are milking the taxpayer while not providing an education for the children. I note you skip the most important consideration, THE DATA.
Easy, moron. When the govt pays for a road, it solicits competing bids from multiple providers,
When the govt pays for public schools in areas without school choice, there is no competition to drive down costs and increase performance (the primary benefit of capitalism).
If only you were as smart as you think your word salads make you appear to be.
You are not making contextual sense, but that is normal for you. The point was that government uses private contractors to build roads. When there is only one road builder in the area, and that builder is competitive, they generally use that builder. The same goes for charter schools, but the moron label is on your head because there too, the “bidding” occurs, but not just money is involved.
I don’t want to be too harsh because you sound like one who is ill-educated and never had much stuff on top, to begin with.
“The public and charter schools in NYC”
NYC is TOO big. Too impersonal. Too corrupt.
I don’t want the rest of the country to be shoved and steered to mirror Gotham. Egad.
Break up that massive district so there actually is local control.
“NYC is TOO big. Too impersonal. Too corrupt.”
There are local school boards just like where you come from.
NYC might be all those things, but look at the numbers and respond to them, not to your prejudices.
ASSEMBLY ACADEMY FOR FUTURE [PUBLIC SCHOOL]
8th grade
26 well below proficient
45 below proficient
24 proficient
5 above proficient
—–
Success Academy [CHARTER SCHOOL]
8th grade
0 well below proficient
5 below proficient
41 proficient
54 above proficient
SOURCE: New York State Education Department
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
Do you really think change is not in order?
If public schools are good, they will not be replaced with inferior charter schools. If government exerts too much pressure on charter schools to make them perform more like public schools, then the charter schools lose value.
Tell me why in such a corrupt environment and such dangerous businesses why those numbers aren’t meaningful.
Increasing the avenues for corruption is not the right direction. Getting rid of corruption in public education is the place to start. Get the Feds and NGOs out of education.
People should not be treated like dairy cows to milk for profit and to be herded wherever.
This is not increasing avenues of corruption. The idea is to educate kids. The charter schools far exceeded the public schools so where is the corruption?
Take a look at the example I provided and tell me why such an example looks like corruption in your eyes.
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
Well…
“The founder and former CEO of an online public school that educates thousands of Pennsylvania students pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal tax fraud, acknowledging he siphoned more than $8 million from The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School through for-profit and nonprofit companies he controlled.
In entering his plea, Nicholas Trombetta, 61, who headed the school, acknowledged using the money to buy, among other things, a Bonita Springs, Fla., condominium for $933,000, houses for his mother and girlfriend in Ohio for $180,000 and groceries and other items for $990,000.
He manipulated companies he created and controlled to draw the money from the school, also spending it on a $300,000 plane, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said.”
https://www.sharonherald.com/news/state/pa-cyber-founder-admits-to-8-million-in-tax-fraud/article_b2417d37-77f1-5d43-bdf2-838e18675e5c.html
“At the same time, the evidence shows that Pennsylvania has substantial numbers of underperforming
charter schools. To be clear, the proportion of sub-par charter schools has declined since our 2011
Pennsylvania study. However, with nearly one quarter of the schools lagging in reading and one third
in math, the collective impact on student’s academic careers and later life outcomes remains of deep
concern. This report found overwhelmingly negative results found from online charter schools; any potential
benefits of online schooling such as student mobility and flexibility in curriculum are drowned out by
the negative impacts on academic growth of students enrolled in such schools.”
https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2019_pa_state_report_final_06052019.pdf
What percentage of public schools are lagging in reading and math? Is it about the same percentage? If so, why tar and feather public schools?
So this data is slightly dated (2010), but not too far from the 2014 data cited in the above paper:
” Seventy-five percent of all students in the state scored at a proficient or advanced level in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test for that year, while 72% of all students performed at a proficient or advanced level in reading”
psba.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/raising_achievement_in_underperforming_schools-10102011.pdf
So, approximately 1/4 of schools are lagging in math and about 1/4 are lagging in reading at public schools. Therefore, cyber charter schools aren’t succeeding any more than public schools in PA–and they are doing it on the taxpayers’ dime without any accountability to taxpayers.
And, just by searching “cyber” on futurereadypa.org/Compare/# and comparing:
These are just cyber charter schools and probably not even all of them, but nonetheless, a sampling of them:
Agora Cyber CS
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
28.6%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
6.4%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
32.5%
Statewide Average
54.4%
—————————————————————————————————————
Pennsylvania Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
29.5%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
12.4%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
27.2%
Statewide Average
54.4%
——————————————————————————————————————-
Reach Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
28.1%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
7.6%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
26.6%
Statewide Average
54.4%
——————————————————————————————————————
This one was at least close on English Language Arts/Literature:
21st Century Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
50.2%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
20.0%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
38.7%
Statewide Average
54.4%
Darren,
I was a goof and included too many citing links in my reply without breaking them. Would you be able to break the links so the post will go through? Sorry for any inconvenience.
Well…
“The founder and former CEO of an online public school that educates thousands of Pennsylvania students pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal tax fraud, acknowledging he siphoned more than $8 million from The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School through for-profit and nonprofit companies he controlled.
In entering his plea, Nicholas Trombetta, 61, who headed the school, acknowledged using the money to buy, among other things, a Bonita Springs, Fla., condominium for $933,000, houses for his mother and girlfriend in Ohio for $180,000 and groceries and other items for $990,000.
He manipulated companies he created and controlled to draw the money from the school, also spending it on a $300,000 plane, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said.”
https:// www. sharonherald.com /news/state/pa-cyber-founder-admits-to-8-million-in-tax-fraud/ article_b2417d37-77f1-5d43-bdf2-838e18675e5c.html
“At the same time, the evidence shows that Pennsylvania has substantial numbers of underperforming
charter schools. To be clear, the proportion of sub-par charter schools has declined since our 2011
Pennsylvania study. However, with nearly one quarter of the schools lagging in reading and one third
in math, the collective impact on student’s academic careers and later life outcomes remains of deep
concern. This report found overwhelmingly negative results found from online charter schools; any potential
benefits of online schooling such as student mobility and flexibility in curriculum are drowned out by
the negative impacts on academic growth of students enrolled in such schools.”
https:// credo.stanford.edu/ wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ 2019_pa_state_report_final_06052019.pdf
What percentage of public schools are lagging in reading and math? Is it about the same percentage? If so, why tar and feather public schools?
So this data is slightly dated (2010), but not too far from the 2014 data cited in the above paper:
” Seventy-five percent of all students in the state scored at a proficient or advanced level in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test for that year, while 72% of all students performed at a proficient or advanced level in reading”
https:// www. psba.org/ wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ raising_achievement_in_underperforming_schools-10102011.pdf
So, approximately 1/4 of schools are lagging in math and about 1/4 are lagging in reading at public schools. Therefore, cyber charter schools aren’t succeeding any more than public schools in PA–and they are doing it on the taxpayers’ dime without any accountability to taxpayers.
And, just by searching “cyber” on https:// futurereadypa. org/ Compare/# and comparing:
These are just cyber charter schools and probably not even all of them, but nonetheless, a sampling of them:
Agora Cyber CS
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
28.6%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
6.4%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
32.5%
Statewide Average
54.4%
—————————————————————————————————————
Pennsylvania Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
29.5%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
12.4%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
27.2%
Statewide Average
54.4%
——————————————————————————————————————-
Reach Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
28.1%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
7.6%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
26.6%
Statewide Average
54.4%
——————————————————————————————————————
This one was at least close on English Language Arts/Literature:
21st Century Cyber CS
State Assessment Measures
Performance Overview
Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania State Assessments
English Language Arts/Literature
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
50.2%
Statewide Average
54.1%
Mathematics/Algebra
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
20.0%
Statewide Average
35.7%
Science/Biology
—All Student Group Did Not Meet Interim Goal/Improvement Target—
Percent Proficient or Advanced
38.7%
Statewide Average
54.4%
“pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal tax fraud, acknowledging he siphoned more than $8 million from The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School ”
Is that your argument for ending charter schools? If so, close all the NYC public schools because fraud exists there as well.
OK, Prairie, we have now closed public and charter schools. Is your answer that we should abolish public education?
“evidence shows that Pennsylvania has substantial numbers of underperforming
charter schools.”
Are they underperforming due to selection? Your quote doesn’t answer that question. In NYC, the comparisons were head-to-head, some in the same family and even with twins. The data you have shown could represent a giant success when one looks at the student populations.
Last time you did the same thing and dissed New Orleans charter schools. They were poorly managed, but when I looked it up, I showed you were wrong because, even though the children weren’t Rhodes Scholars, they performed better than the public schools had been performing previously. Other negatives affecting the students were involved, but you didn’t bother comparing apples with apples. You dumped all the fruit in one basket and compared apples to oranges.
Here is an example of a head-to-head comparison, something you have yet to do. You should start with success and see how it came to be.
ASSEMBLY ACADEMY FOR FUTURE [PUBLIC SCHOOL]
8th grade
26 well below proficient
45 below proficient
24 proficient
5 above proficient
—–
Success Academy [CHARTER SCHOOL]
8th grade
0 well below proficient
5 below proficient
41 proficient
54 above proficient
SOURCE: New York State Education Department
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
That is the problem with our education system. People lack the education to understand the basics of statistics and the selection process.
“If government exerts too much pressure on charter schools to make them perform more like public schools, then the charter schools lose value.”
Kinda sounds like it isn’t a level playing field.
That is correct. The playing field is leveled in the direction of the teachers union, not the students. Your big complaint was that the teachers in charter schools were paid less (or more)? The budget for charter schools is 75% of what the public schools get. Maybe the public schools need to copy some of the things done in the NYC charter schools.
What do you want changed? NY sets the standards and the charter schools far exceed the standards in the public schools. NY sets the cost per pupil and pays the charter schools ¾ of what the public schools are paid. What is it that you find unfair. NYC charter schools have learned to exceed public school standards at a lower price.That is dam- good.
Disagree with your premise this is the fault of corporatations and loss of local control. No No No. The corporations you speak of would be the Teacher and Public Employee Unions. Local school boards have the control and are run by predominately die hard liberals. Yes, the local populations voted them in. The same goes for electing Democrats to run local and state governments. They are destroying these same communities as they are inefficient, corrupt, and not held to account. Maybe someday they will see the light and ask for more. Vote conservative.
my wife was a teacher, she was fed up with the school system and I spoke to her about what was wrong and she told me.When she finished i said I will take care of it. I bought her a school and told her to teach the way she should. Her first year she had a ball, she started she taught the kids 3 languages from 1st. grade up we only had 3 grades Spanish Sign language and English. she taught math, I could walk in and say math test, I would start rattling of numbers in add and subtraction and they could do it in their heads.
one thing I did was made the parents part of the school, it was their job to make sure the kids got their homework, this allowed the parents to see the advancement their kids made on a steady basis. sSo do not tell me the kids are stupid or the teachers do not do their job. That is not true, We taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, none of that other crap that has nothing to do with an education. If you will get the government idiots out of the room and let the teachers teach they will turn out awesome students. school does not need the gay, the gender or any of the other things that do not have a damn thing to do with teaching. OUR KIDS WERE THREE YEARS AHEAD OF EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE AREA.
Your argument is misguided at best. Schools have worsened as democrats became more in charge of them. Parents indeed were complacent. Too many think schools now are similar to when they went to school. They are not. They are radical propaganda factories that produce good little Marxists.
The voucher system may not be perfect, but it isn’t your job to make sure whether a kid is getting good value for the education dollars. It is the parents job. Right now, democrats have full control. And they are more worried about making sure Becky can use the boys restroom instead of understanding math and English. Students are stuck in the failing schools with little chance to get out. A low income person, well anyone really, should not have to fund the corrupt public schools then also fully fund their own actual education.
Here in WISCONSIN where I live, we once had 85+% of students proficient in math and English. That was in 2000. Just a generation later, with democrats in near complete control, those numbers are down to 34/35%. If you want accountability for the tax money… the measurement is in the testing. And we already have mechanisms in place to do the testing.
Pull your children from these schools. Give your children a chance at life.
School vouchers. Make the schools compete for the money and this crap will stop immediately. Let the parents choose where to spend the money.
vouchers, sure. But you have teachers, pols, illiterate sperm and egg donors saying vouchers are racist. I asked one of those morons why. The answer – private schools can pick and choose who they accept. So private schools only accept white and asian kids. To be honest I can understand why ” IF ” they did that. But they dont.
Their neighbor’s money is not *their* money.
“Make the schools compete for the money and this crap will stop immediately.”
Lots of colleges already compete and they are corrupt. Lots of businesses compete and they’re corrupt (re: WEF).
Competition does not solve the ills of the human heart.
“Their neighbor’s money is not *their* money.”
Their neighbor’s child is not their child.
Then the parent can use their own money to send their child to the school of their choice.
Or
The parent can try to effect change at the public school and try to get their neighbors to help them effect change at the public school if things are going badly since their shared tax dollars are not being used wisely. They would each have a mutual interest in the public school being run well–the parents’ child would get a great education and everyone’s tax dollars would be used well in the short and long term (well-educated children to one day carry on the goings-on of the community).
In order to do this, parents and taxpayers need to be paying attention to the quality of education at the school (that requires parents to have some kind of understanding of what is needed for all the elements of a well-rounded education), as well as some interest in paying attention to the shifts and trends that education tries to go. Parents and taxpayers need to be paying attention to the laws and funding that are being debated, what is in them, and who is behind these laws. They also need to find out what is behind some of the movements stemming from NGOs. Those, too, affect public education.
High expectations, I know. But, then, the Founders never said self-governance was easy. You have a republic, sir, if you can keep it.
“Then the parent can use their own money to send their child to the school of their choice.”
What type of response is that? The welfare parent can use their own money so their child is educated and doesn’t end up on the streets and on welfare? Your solution is ludicrous. Those with money, who care about their children, removed them from the public schools that weren’t functioning.
“Or The parent can try to effect change at the public school…”
Do you honestly believe that those children who cannot read, write or count have parents that are able to do this? Where is this nonsense coming from?
“Parents and taxpayers need to be paying attention to the laws and funding that are being debated”
The parents that are paying attention and want a good education for their children are clamoring for more charter schools so their children can get into them. The teachers union and Democrats, on the other hand, is trying to block the formation of charter schools and trying to harm the ones that exist.
We were on welfare for a bit when I was a kid. My mom paid attention to our education. She sought out help when it was needed. She expected us to do our best, to do our homework, to read, and she encouraged a love of learning about the world. She also appreciated the strong attention people of the community paid to the public school so that it maintained an excellent education.
Educated people need to pay attention to their districts so the least amongst them can get an excellent education, too. Running from the problem (with other people’s money no less) doesn’t fix the problem in the public schools.
“Running from the problem (with other people’s money no less) doesn’t fix the problem in the public schools.”
Take a look at what happened in NYC with competition in the form of charter schools. How was such a reversal possible? How was the following possible?
71% below proficient in public school
5% below proficient in charter school
5% above proficient in public school
54% above proficient in charter school
These were random children in the same grade, taught in the same school. From this study one can even compare twins and siblings living in the same household where one is in a charter school and the other in the public school.
Stop jumping around and look at the numbers. In the past I provided you with a video that provides an in depth look at how the study was done, and I provided information where one could get all the results that involves hundreds of schools.
Question: If Republicans took charge of the inner cities, they would have to get black kids to be responsible students who don’t talk back at authority figures (teachers), pay attention to the lessons, do their homework, stop swearing, stop yelling, no rap, etc. I don’t think it’s possible because of genetics.
I think you’re correct. It does seem like they’re programmed for failure. Some swim against the stream but they are very few.
What kind of genetics would that be?
another Democrat success story.
Oh, oh, oh that’s nothing. Now compare the math and English proficiency rate to the the percent that graduate from high school. How does a high school have a proficiency rate of 0-30% yet a a high school graduation rate of 65-85%? In NV a high school student used to pass the states proficiency exam in math and english. That changed a couple year ago when CCSD needed to increase their graduation rates. They got rid of the proficiency exams. Then Rep Susie Lee ran her campaign on how she help increase graduation rates in NV.
I was, at one time, a public health nurse, and as such, we would be asked to make home visits to investigate excessive absenteeism in grade schools, to see if there were health or social problems that were the culprit and to provide resources. Investigating to see whether providing resources for health or social problems was done before referrals to child protective services. I’ll never forget the father of one kid who was absent a lot telling me that he really didn’t care whether his son went to school regularly, because he dropped out when he was in grade school. This man was from one of the southern states. Plus, to get the child to school on time, they’d have to get up early in the morning–something they weren’t inclined to do, since they liked to stay up late at night and drink a lot. So, rather than accrue a lot of tardiness, the child accrued a lot of absenteeism. This man actually thought he was being persecuted by being questioned about why his son didn’t regularly attend school. He didn’t think it was anybody’s business if his child wasn’t getting to school regularly. Back then, there was no such thing as home schooling, and this family wouldn’t have availed themselves of this option even if it were available. Usually, in these cases, in my experience, they’d just move to another address before CPS caught up with them, and the cycle would be repeated. Eventually, the child might be removed from the home if the family just wouldn’t cooperate with getting the child to school regularly and refused resources and help.
So, is this father in the right here, or is Rachel Wall correct in saying: “The purpose of a public ed is to not teach kids what the parents want. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client is not the parent, but the community.”? The community should have a say in deciding whether a child attends school regularly, even if the child’s parents are lazy, ignorant, addicted to drugs or alcohol or just plain too stupid to even understand the importance of at least a basic education. Children shouldn’t be allowed to suffer because their parents are losers. And, not all people who are uneducated feel this way, either. I saw families coping with povery, poor health and multiple generations under one roof that still managed to get their kids to schooll, see that their homework was done, got them dental and health care, decent clothes, a nutritious diet and did everything they could do for their kids to have a successful life, despite a mountain of challenges that could conveniently be used as an excuse for failure. A child who doesn’t get even a basic education won’t have a chance in life to develop whatever gifts or talents he has if he doesn’t even learn to read, do basic math or be exposed to history, music, culture, health and physical education. He’ll just grow up to be another alcoholic or drug addict disrespectul of authority, and has a high chance of landing in prison. Parents should not be the ultimate authority on a child’s education if the child isn’t getting at least the basics, and this includes the contents of what they are taught. Pitting parents against educators is just more culture wars garbage put out by Republicans to hook the gullibles.
Hi Gigi,
You raise some very good points. Indeed, we cannot function as a society if people don’t have at least a basic education that provides them with the ability to read, do basic math, and some sense of what our society is (American government, constitution, etc.) And of course they could do much better if they are given some ability to navigate society and the legal system.
But I have to beg to differ with your “culture wars garbage put out by Republicans” line. Even as a gay man who came out in the 70s, I am alarmed at the extent that many public school children these days are indoctrinated by very left-leaning teachers about things like gay sex, transsexualism, pornography, etc. If I had any kids, I wouldn’t want them reading this stuff or being exposed to it at all. Worse, these teachers know that parents would be alarmed about this, and so do their best to hide the situation from parents. I can’t tell you about how many stories I’ve read about kids who are taking the first step toward a sex change, using an opposite-sex name at school, wearing breast binders, etc., and the school is actively keeping this from parents.
This should not be happening. Full stop. Parents do indeed have the right to be intimately involved with the lives of their children, more involved than the school. Many people, myself included, do not believe in “gender affirming care” any more than we believe in “bulemia-affirming care.” Indeed, many of us regard this as nothing short of child abuse in furtherance of a political agenda.
Yes, the community’s needs have to be addressed. But this idea that somehow parents’ views are irrelevant to their child’s education is just plain wrong. Yes, as you pointed out, some people just aren’t qualified to be parents. But that’s no excuse for political and gender/queer/whatever theory indoctrination of our youth.
Respectfully,
Mr. Kim G
I don’t know what constitutes “indoctrination” vis a vis LGBTQ, people, blacks, people from other religious or racial groups or people who are from another country. If a child comes from a home in which parents are prejudiced against these people and use insulting slurs against such, should the school “honor” that as an “alternative value” and allow children to use the “N” word, or call someone a “queer” or “fag:” or “wetback” or other insulting descriptors they hear from their parents? By “alternative” value, I mean alternative to the American value that all people are created equal and endowed with their creator with certain inalianble rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t think teachers are handing out pornographic literature or teaching sexual techniques in schools at any level, any more than I believe that schools are teaching CRT. I am highly skeptical that the things you claim to have “read about” are actually happening, especially on any widespread basis. That’s the culture wars nonsense that Republicans are running on now, since they don’t have any agenda, any goals, or even a realistic budget.
Gigi – your two comments deserve consideration. But you wrong in saying Republicans are putting parent’s against teachers. It is the moral duty of parents to protect their children against moral harm. When that harm comes from the schools funded by the parents, they have a right to object. The parents will in general care far more for the welfare of the children than the teachers do.
Hi Gigi,
Thanks for the reply. If you don’t believe that CRT is being taught, or any of the other things you mentioned, you might do a little poking around. These things are widely reported on right-wing Twitter, in the right-wing press, and on Substack. They are not a right-wing fantasy. The fact that you doubt their existence says more about where you get your news than it does about what’s actually happening in the world. I’m not a right-winger, but I was completely in the left-wing news bubble until a few years ago, and suffered from the same news myopia I believe you are suffering. (Though I give you kudos for reading Turley, someone who can see the whole field too.) Now that I’m seeing both sides of the news, I’ve got a much clearer view of what’s really happening. And it’s my observation that half of the damage that the corporate propaganda press does is to simply ignore stories they don’t like. Indoctrination of kids into CRT, the trans agenda, etc. falls under this rubric.
Look around. You will probably be surprised by what you find. At least if you are willing to look with an open mind.
Cheers,
Kim G
Roma Sur, CDMX
Right-wing Twatter? LMFAO
Schools don’t have to teach an actual course in CRT. Teachers have learned how to infuse it into the lessons. Into the pedagogy. Are kids being told that white kids are born as oppressors and are privileged? Yep. And the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion programs are being used as an excuse to discriminate against those who will not embrace the progressive narrative.
My kids are told to be polite to the gender confused, but they know they don’t have to participate in the gender confused mental illness. Schools however are forcing compliance. The EDI director has told teachers “If a child will not use the pronouns another child want used, remove them from class until they will.” Really? Or how about my kids first day, first class assignment? 1. What is your preferred name and what are your preferred pronouns? 2. Are the name and pronouns you just listed different than the ones I should use when communicating with your parents? How exactly is that not a blatant attempt to undermine parents? My wife and I strongly object to the trans exposure in schools. They start the trans education here in 4K. The term “groomer” is well earned. In the previous years 2000-2017 there was at most 1 gender confused kid in the entire district k-12 (about 8,000 students total) Now? There over 60 kids with gender support plans. Are any being told the dangers of puberty blockers? Nope. Are adults in schools encouraging or coercing the behavior? Yep. It is EVIL!
Then… you have the concept of teaching a very skewed view of the country. We now have college JR and Sr students who have only been told that democrats are wonderful and conservatives are subhuman scum. And , you think this is just fine? You think conservatives should just accept it? I guarantee that if this was reversed, you would be screaming foul! And you know it. Stop with your ridiculous straw man depictions of republicans. Especially with the content of this article. The failures of Baltimore are 100% on / owned by democrats!
That is unfair. That is coming from outliers. Nonsense like that would mostly be coming from administrators who control the curriculum and do the professional development–the administrative state.
Most teachers want kids to learn *content* about the world and be able to read and do math and become functional human beings. Administrators get to push agendas on the teachers.
Stop sowing mistrust! People–teachers are your neighbors! Get to know them! They might be democrats, but they want kids to be well-educated.
A bunch of this nonsense with. DEI and CRT is coming from. the Federal government and NGOs!
The failures of Baltimore are on taxpayers and parents turning a blind eye!
Trust is earned. Teachers are almost all left leaning. They are buying into the CRT/ EDI agenda. Look at where they send their money… it isn’t to republicans. Have any teachers spoken up against the crazy Marxist propaganda? No. None. Have any spoken up about the gender crazy nonsense being rammed down throats of students? No. Did any of them speak up during COvID restrictions? No. Instead they screamed at kids who wore masks below their noses. They are destroying trust instead of earning it. One teacher has been giving out a survey that is similar to a health form you would fill out for a doctor visit. It is NOT anonymous. This is a clear PPRA violation (felony). Teacher, principal, administration told us to pound sand. How can you portray me as the bad guy here?
Cat Catcher,
I agree–trust is earned.
Regarding teachers speaking up, do they feel like they are working in an environment where they can speak up without fear of retaliation?
I don’t think it is mostly teachers bringing this into the schools. Administrators are typically in charge of curriculum and professional development. See the Learning 2025 Commission for Superintendents:
https://www.aasa.org/docs/default-source/resources/reports/commissionreportfinal-040821.pdf?sfvrsn=ae95668f_4
“One teacher has been giving out a survey that is similar to a health form you would fill out for a doctor visit. It is NOT anonymous. This is a clear PPRA violation (felony). Teacher, principal, administration told us to pound sand. How can you portray me as the bad guy here?”
What did the school lawyer say?
Did the school board approve the survey?
Was it made available for review prior to being voted on if it was voted on?
If it was, did you voice your disapproval of the survey prior to it being voted on?
“Stop with your ridiculous straw man depictions of republicans.”
I do agree with this. Really tired of the ad hominems.
Hey Gigi: I find your comment today most interesting–especially about parents who “use insulting slurs against…” Very amusing, coming from a “public nurse” who, on nearly a daily basis, employs demeaning insults toward some commenters (“red meat disciples” is my favorite) and who refers to a president of the United States as a “fat pig” or “orange face,” etc.
How did that work out for your own kids?
When the US educational system was number 1 or near the top in almost every educational measure there was poverty, alcoholism and disfunctionality. The question is what happened to society since the 70’s that has caused the US to fall dramatically behind. Look around, the disintegration of norms of behavior, expectations, excuses for unacceptable behaviors, decadence, lowering standards to accomodate all kinds of grievances.I could go on but I think I’ve made my point.
Easy divorce.
Easy sex.
Easy food (processed and nutrient poor).
Easy entertainment everywhere.
High fructose corn syrup & sugar everywhere.
The growth of the administrative state.
Etc
What I must wonder is how this happened.
That’s all well and good if the schools are actually teaching and not indoctrinating the kids. The fact that the kids aren’t proficient in math, and I would assume English, history and science, shows that the s hills are failing.
The scenario you just described is hardly the family life of your typical Republican family/ parents objecting to the perversion, lies, indoctrination taking place in public schools.
One of our English teachers had class study a poem about pedophilia. Parents objected. Nothing happened. Parents had no say. It is actually in the ELA agreement to teach sexual orientation, gender, etc within the English classes 7-12. Why? No reason for it. But English is required coursework. You can’t escape the crazy. At least with sex Ed, parents can review material (in theory) and can opt out of it. I say in theory, well, because we have requested to see the educational materials then been told by the teacher to talk to the principal. Principal says talk to the secondary Ed director. Secondary Ed says talk to the superintendent. What do we finally get? A vague syllabus.
And now? They are infusing sexual content into English, Social Studies, Family Consumer Science (Home Ec). You try and deny it, but it is happening. And it gets more bold and in your face every year. My kids don’t take those courses in person. They take them online so we can monitor every assignment, object to perverted content, and correct the Marxist theory that oozes from most lessons.
“What do we finally get? A vague syllabus.”
Talk to the school board. Put stuff on Facebook or blogs or letters to the editor or send around text messages. Get the school board directors moving. They are your representatives. Primaries are coming up…
Yes, complain to the school board. And then get investigated by the FBI for being a “terrorist.” I think most Americans, if they knew, would be against the kind of indoctrination and sex “education” that’s happening in these schools. But they don’t know. As I commented earlier, this kind of thing is studiously ignored by the corporate “news” or what I prefer to call the mainstream “mis-leadia.” It’s not so much what they report; it’s what they leave out in terms of context or ignore entirely. Oddly (and off-topic here) the train derailment disaster seems to have been put into the “ignore” column. Sadly. Leftists used to care about corporate and government malfeasance. No more. But I digress.
I don’t know what it’s going to take to get this crap out of schools. Perhaps a DeSantis presidency. But look at the hullabaloo that was created by the Parental Rights in Education Act (incorrectly AKA “Don’t Say Gay Bill”). And that only postponed the madness until 5th grade, not exactly college level.
The left has very cleverly managed to argue that if you don’t agree that “anything goes,” well then you are a bigot. Any kind of reasonable debate about sensitive topics is now out the window.
I fear it’s too late.
Kim G
“Yes, complain to the school board. And then get investigated by the FBI for being a “terrorist.””
Nonsense. Simply pointing out problems in a civilized manner is not actionable.
Stop showing distrust amongst the population. The people in most school districts are your neighbors. The breakdowns in society got us in this mess. Destroying it further allows totalitarians to fill the breach.
First, I’m not referring to my own school board. Second, surely you’ve seen the DOJ memo about parents who complain being called “terrorists?” Third, I used to be quite trusting until all the major institutions earned my distrust. I worry about the untrustworthiness of all these institutions, particularly that of the mainstream press which should be the watchdog, but is now the lapdog of one of the major parties.
cheers!
See now … you were doing good until the last sentence where you showed yourself to be an arse.
You were doing fine until the last sentence … where you showed yourself to bee an ass.
get out of my house, my life and stay away from my family psycho !
Before blaming the poor education outcomes in Baltimore on socioeconomic factors, how about creating a public school system run by leaders who are not stupid, corrupt, and indifferent to the needs of their students.
Create?
We have a good system. People need to pay attention to whom they elect.
Which candidate is a good and decent person whose aim is to provide an excellent education for the kids in the district?
People need to pay attention.
” public school system run by leaders who are not stupid, corrupt, and indifferent to the needs of their students.”
That won’t happen if the public is paying attention. No system can completely outflank stupidity, corruption, and indifference if there is indifference a failure of responsibility on the part of the public.
One problem that no one is talking about is the lack of school bus transportation for the city’s youngest students. Where my daughter works (two Baltimore City public schools), only children whose IEP states that they need school bus transportation are allowed to ride a school bus. Otherwise, if there’s no gas money or mom is sick and can’t drive children to school…the children stay home. How can a child learn under these conditions?
The continuing failure of our public educational system means two things (1) greater social-economic stratification separating ever more the higher IQ and educated whose parents were able to put them through private education leaving most everyone else in their dust,
(2) the need to build more prisons, which are a bargain esp if we ignore the skin color count.
That is a failure of the public. Our indifference to one another and our future generation’s education. Demand the Feds get out of education. Get rid of the strings in ESSERS. Take back local control. Shoulder that responsibility.
Thank the civil rights movement.