hifigator
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Post by hifigator on May 22, 2008 16:30:01 GMT -5
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on May 28, 2008 11:12:39 GMT -5
I think the whole school choice thing is unnecessary, just give all the public schools the same resources and bring them all up to the same level. Then your local public school is jsut as good as any other and there's no reason to go to another school.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on May 28, 2008 11:35:35 GMT -5
I think the whole school choice thing is unnecessary, just give all the public schools the same resources and bring them all up to the same level. Then your local public school is jsut as good as any other and there's no reason to go to another school. Except when you look at the numbers and see crappy schools spending twice as much per pupil as a good school, that argument doesn't hold water. |
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on May 28, 2008 11:40:24 GMT -5
Could you clarify your point? I don't understand. If all the schools were completely equal and good why would kids need to go to anyother school than the one who's district they're in?
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 28, 2008 11:46:29 GMT -5
I think your question is what kc is trying to point out. If all the schools were completely equal.. . That's easier said than done.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on May 28, 2008 12:22:44 GMT -5
well clearly it's not easy but i think it's more important to fix the problem than to put a band aid on it. using that $50M towards improving failing schools instead of jsut allowing all the good students to get out of the failing school is a better use of the money I feel.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hifigator on May 28, 2008 13:34:35 GMT -5
well clearly it's not easy but i think it's more important to fix the problem than to put a band aid on it. using that $50M towards improving failing schools instead of jsut allowing all the good students to get out of the failing school is a better use of the money I feel. I see several problems with your suggestions. The first is that it is simply a matter of money. I agree that sometimes schools are simply underfunded. But as someone else pointed out, that isn't always the case. Oftentimes, the knee-jerk response is to throw money at the problem, resulting in situations where the lower performing schools are actually spending more money per student. Secondly, you suggest that a school choice program "just allow(s) all the good students to get out of the failing school." I disagree. I think that is a critical element for any school choice program that I am going to support. It must be open to all parents -- not just a select group. As it is now, we are spending tons of money in the form of tax dollars for public education. But the only parents who really have any choice are the wealthy. They can select a private school of their choice. It can be religious or not. It can be a football, basketball or any other sport pipeline to college and beyond. It could be a specialty school with emphasis on a vocational field, such as cooking or business. But whatever it is, it is only a viable option for the wealthy. Furthermore, even within the public school domain, the wealthy have an unfair advantage. Some will simply have dual residency. They can buy or rent a home zoned for the school of their choice, whether they actually sleep there or not. The point is that only the wealthy have a real school choice right now. The best aspect of Georgia's system is that it is available to all parents equally. |
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on May 28, 2008 15:37:11 GMT -5
my point had nothing to do with wealth. When i said it allows the good students to leave, I mean that the only kids who are going to try and leave for a better school are ones who are really serious students. How many C students are really looking to move to a better school? maybe i'm misinformed on this, but i'm pretty sure the only students trying to upgrade schools are ones who are currently succesful at their current schools. I'm not opposed to school choice programs as temorary meassure to help the situation. However that's not going to fix the education problems of this country.
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on May 28, 2008 16:41:03 GMT -5
my point had nothing to do with wealth. When i said it allows the good students to leave, I mean that the only kids who are going to try and leave for a better school are ones who are really serious students. How many C students are really looking to move to a better school? maybe i'm misinformed on this, but i'm pretty sure the only students trying to upgrade schools are ones who are currently succesful at their current schools. I'm not opposed to school choice programs as temorary meassure to help the situation. However that's not going to fix the education problems of this country. Academics aren't the only reason someone would try to leave a school. I'm sure that if I was a student in a gang riddled Atlanta school it wouldn't matter if I was an A student or a D student I would want to get the hell out of there. Plus it wouldn't really be the kid's choice. The parents of a C student might think its the school keeping the kid down and want a better learning opportunity. Just because a school is bad doesn't mean everyone gets an A; it means that kids don't learn anything. Georgia's plan makes sense, if there are better alternatives to public school everyone should have access to them. /I say this as the product of the public school system, which I didn't have problems with |
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on May 28, 2008 19:48:16 GMT -5
I think the school choice programs are a good idea, but dont ultimately fix the problem. I think it ca also cause more problems especially when schools that don't perform well lose funding which i think makes things worse. Say what you will but i still beleive most of the people who leave schools are the better students of the school even if they're currently not doing well they're the ones who have parents who care about their education so they'll probably do better in the future even if they stayed at the same school. So when the better students leave that school gets worse. and as a result of some of the education reform that cut the funding of schools that test poorly causes the school to get even worse.
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