Detroit Free Press blows apart charter-school movement

The issue isn't merely underperforming charter schools -- it's underperforming, unaccountable charter schools. With public schools, in theory, they are accountable because it's the taxpayer's dime, you can get documents about them, and you can elect (or throw out) the school board. That most don't do this is another issue.

The idea that closing schools and/or starting charters will magically turn around the educational system is trying to apply a simplistic solution to complicated problems. Not to mention that the instability of schools will exacerbate home instability, which already puts students behind the 8-ball.

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412908-The-Negative-Effects-of-Instability-on-Child-Development.pdf

Then again, we're all assuming that everyone is starting at a place at find the best, most efficient way to educate all children. I would argue almost no one is starting at that place -- they care about their own kids, or don't care because their kids are done, or they don't have kids. Or, they live in areas where anyone who does receive a decent education gets the hell out, giving no return on investment for the locality. Or, they're trying to make a buck and/or bust unions. From my experience, teachers are among the few capable of a real global view, mainly because they're the ones who see all this every day.

 

New administrators! New teachers! New kids! That'll fix the school!

Of course, in this country everybody has a right to a free public education, so if the kids (or their parents) are the problem, they will just be a problem somewhere else.

And YankeeFan is anti-union. Take away the unions the salaries and benefits of teachers and administrators will drop significantly. He wants to do away with tenure. So, in his "plan," we're going to take away needed protections, money and benefits from our teachers, which will lead to more talented people choosing other professions. It will also result in those good teachers who lose their jobs due to loss of tenure simply moving on to something else because no matter how dedicated you are to education, you still have to make a living.

So where are all those new teachers and administrators going to come from? A thinner, less talented pool of applicants. Yeah, that'll boost education in this country. Let's just do everything we can to push talented people into other professions.

The attacks on teacher's unions come from the flawed assumption that teachers aren't dedicated to their students. Yes, the union advocates for the teachers, but one of the things they expect their unions to do is help them get what they need to do their jobs. That means resources and smaller class sizes, among other issues. This idea that people only get into teaching for the money and summers off just proves the ignorance of the people attacking teachers and teacher unions.

 

So, you just want to attack the system, but you have no ideas for a solution. Yeah, that's what I figured.

 

Figuring out where to put them all is the most fundamental issue. If you can't figure that out, then even the greatest solution on earth won't be workable.

 

Actually, just the opposite. Your solution is far too easy and simplistic, which is why it isn't working to do anything but line the pockets of $1,000-an-hour consultants. The problem schools face is called poverty.

 

Thank you to Bob Cook and OOP. That pretty much sums it up.
The biggest detriment to education is policy makers who think one size fits all and educating children is the same as mass producing a product. It doesn't work that way.