Monday's Ledger writer Bob Braun in a first page story blasts Chrisitie for his position favoring Charter Schools over underachieving public schools.
For once the anti-Christie Democrats are right. Comparing Charter Schools with Public Schools in economic poor urban districts is like comparing Oranges with Lemons. Both are citrus fruits, but there is a world of difference.
The public school is obligated to service every child in the community. The Charter School although supported by taxpayer's money can find ways of being selective as to its student body. Their "client" base comes from homes of concerned parents.Unfortunately, in the inner city the parent or responsible adult does not have the time or too often the will to oversee the child's education.
Instead of praising the Charter School's higher test scores, focus should be on their failures. Focus should also be on the public school system's endeavors to be sure that the education process is impacting upon the child.
The knowledgeable BOE will set reasonable goals , and make sure that the administrative professional part of the system has plans and procedures to meet those goals.
To raise the overall level of education in a community neither the Charter School which has specific interest programs that benefit only a few, or the small "Special School" with limited enrollment can be the answer. There may be a place in the system for the limited enrollment "special" school for the exceptionally gifted child. However the criteria for placement must be spelled out a vigorously adhered to with the capability of admitting all who meet those criteria.
One possible approach to raising the education results in the community is a two tract system with those children who assimilate the material being on one track and the slower learners on another track with smaller classes so that more individual attention is part of the curriculum.
Other musts have been spelled out by Christie and Bloomberg. Teachers must be willing to teach, to be innovative and flexible. Other professions such as medicine require its members to keep up to date in their knowledge base, to be recertified on a regular periodic base. Teachers should not be exempt. The non productive ones replaced by younger enthusiastic individuals.
I hope that some of the BOE members who read this blog will give some serious thought to concepts proposed.
Old Doc, coincidently there is an opinion piece in today’s New York Times by Stanly Fish, ‘Race to the Top of What? Obama On Education’, that obliquely addresses issues you raised today about education and at the same time provides some insight into the question you raised of not being able to understand the comments of some bloggers.
ReplyDeletehttp://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/race-to-the-top-of-what-obama-on-education/?ref=opinion
OLD Doc -- I have to say this is THE BEST POST you've ever written on Education to date.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail directly on the head with the following: "
ReplyDelete"The public school is obligated to service every child in the community. The Charter School although supported by taxpayer's money can find ways of being selective as to its student body."
"CAN FIND WAYS" -- that is exactly waht is happening in at our charter school in Plainfield -- the Central Jersey Arts Charter School -- I know because I work here --- and this is exactly what the administration is doing -- telling parents whose kids have special needs that this school is not the best place for their child and that they should go back to the plainfield school district..
Children with special needs are not being taught properly here -- and their IEPs are not being met --this is against all laws
if I was to say this with my name, I would be fired immediately from here and I can't lose my job. So many of my fellow teachers have either been fired or just walked out of here. it is a real shame
The Charter schools do not select the students, the student's parents select the charter school. This means that from the gate the charter school students have something a lot of public school students don't . . . parental concern!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has had any dealings with the BOE can see what rough shape they are in.
ReplyDeleteHow come the answer to every problem with any municipal entity is . . .MORE MONEY?
Blackdog, you are only 67% right. Parents apply for their children to a Charter School. The Schools have admission policies which select their student cadre. The other 33% is the parental involvement in the child's education which all too often missing in the Public school venue.
ReplyDelete1:19, Unfortunately in life money is at the core of every problem. But it may not and most frequently is not the amount. Rather, it is how effectively it is used that is the determining factor. We can do better in City Government and BOE/PSS areas in our controls and accountabilities.
Close the public high school. We are relegaing our children to a worthless life. They have no education worth a hoot here. Get them to discricts who can run a school and let them learn.
ReplyDeleteOur BOE does nothing to bring in outside help or look at outside programs. Get them out and give the kids a chance.
Dear Old Doc,
ReplyDeleteParents at our public schools have been disenfranchised for many, many, years now and now that we have a large percentage of Latino parents the question is: are they being properly informed on school matters? Latino parents have the disadvantage of not only sometimes a language barrier but a major cultural difference when it comes to parental involvement at the schools, add to this the poor information on school matters to parents and here you might have a better picture of what is going on.
As for charters and choice and our public schools: once our public schools start doing their job the proper way I am sure there will be no need, or less need, for charters and other school choices but as it is right now, really, can at least some students be given a fair opportunity at a better education and environment? Recently an article from the StarLedger quoted a reverend responding to those opposed to vouchers:
"I’m glad they weren’t around when Harriet Tubman was running the underground railroad. They’d tell her that if she can’t free all the slaves, she shouldn’t free any of them."
Here is the link to the article:
http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2011/01/a_mom_and_her_son_make_the_cas.html
There is still much, much, work to in Plainfield, to the extent that I see much of what I do just as one small step on all that needs to be done. By the way, tracking students, to my knowledge, is not allowed anymore. Now we have "differentiated education" that allows all levels to be included, even those ones with special needs.
At the risk of being crucified, I’d like to point out one issue that affects the performance of the students in school, irrespective of how much money you spend and how good the teachers are. Until this problem is solved, you will get nowhere in improving the performance of the students and that is the behavior of the students. Not all of the students but that perennial 5 percenter’s that disrupt every classroom. Every school knows who they and if they were removed from the classroom you would see a dramatic performance increase in the remainder of the students, even if you increased the class size. I went to catholic school and there were 40 kids in my class and we all learned to read, write and count. No problem, even though the discipline was draconian and I’m not recommending it be implemented in public schools but there are ways to finesse the situation. Every school teacher that I’ve spoken to has agreed that the following is true: they know who disrupts their class and if they permanently remove student they would have far more time to devote to the rest of students and would be able to improve their performance. What to do with the 5 percenters? Give them the special attention that they need, send them to private school, one on one tutoring or very small classes with the best teachers, and the one on one services to socialize these kids. I bet this can be done within the current school budget. Now, will the Superintendent try this in one school in Plainfield. MY two cents
ReplyDeletePlease note VERY IMPORTANT -- charter schools ARE NOT ALLOWED BY LAW to select their students -- but some "CAN (and do) FIND WAYS"
ReplyDeleteAs for parental choice -- that does not mean that parents are involved -- I work in one and the parents are not that involved at all -- some never even come to any meetings and some send their kids to our school because they had problems in the plainfield traditional schools...
Teachers know who the disruptive students are, and there's no question about the adverse effects such students have on teaching and learning in the classroom. The problem is, as many teachers will tell you, the lack of administrative support for teachers attempting to deal with these kids. If disruptive students are sent to the principal's office (which in my day was serious!) they are sent right back and the teacher is criticized for "being unable to control" their classroom. This merry-go-round has been going on for years in public schools--it's nothing new, and it's not just in Plainfield.
ReplyDeleteProper administrative support is essential if teachers are expected to teach and students are expected to learn. Many administrators have chosen to get certification so they could get out of the classroom (that's true in higher education as well).
Maybe the solution is to send the disruptive students to charter schools--but of course that isn't going to happen because charter schools can be selective as to which students they take. But I bet "special classes" could be set up in public schools, and/or there could be real consequences for student misbehavior--but I guess I'm dreaming.