The Official School Vouchers/Charter School Thread (generation, money, states)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is 100% false. That's like saying to be globally competitive, we need only one giant entity for each industry. I'm sorry, if education is shackled with one single mediocre set of goals, then we're all doomed. Forget it, we need constant innovation and NO centralized influence AT ALL.
Sorry but it is not a "let a thousand flowers bloom" situation.
A set of basic content is perfectly reasonable and necessary. You need to answer the basic questions. How do you know when you are done?
You don't have to stop at these basics. You may continue and exceed. But you do need a base line. A properly educated persons knows....
And the content of such a standard should change and grow as the knowledge base moves.
Something that voucher proponents rarely address is where the money will come from. There are currently over five million students enrolled in private schools nationwide - do they all receive vouchers first? And there are roughly ten times that amount in public schools - how many of those students will receive vouchers? How many additional private school placements do you think could be created if students want to leave public schools? It's easy to say let private industry handle it, but the logistics just won't work out in education. You would have fly by night operations opening right and left just to get the government grants while providing an inferior education - there are plenty examples of that in the charter realm already.
Also, would special ed students receive the same amount of voucher as regular ed students? And I'm just trying to imagine the reaction in some segments of our population if tuition grants were given out to people in subsidized housing who don't currently pay real estate taxes.
Unless questions like these can be answered realistically, promoting vouchers amounts to little more than theoretical navel gazing.
I did not say they were not better - they are imo, but they are definitely not cheaper. I went to a private school, loved it, and can't imagine anything less, but the tuition in my senior year was close to $30K. International schools that follow American or British curriculum run close to $20K-$30K/yr and are probably at least as good as the better public schools, but not cheaper.
For some reason, I didn't notice the last part of the post you quoted about the reduced price.
I went to both private and public school and there was a huge, huge difference. At the time I went, the private school tuition was lower but the school's tuition is now about 20K. However, not all of the money goes to education - not even close.
Common core is a product of the education field. Who else would write such a standard? But it is not a fixed item. And it should be singular and universal. We need a basic standard. After that is met you go wherever you like...but first you get there.
And if you don't like common core change it. It is not immutable.
But there does need to be a basic standard. If not common core than another.
Something that voucher proponents rarely address is where the money will come from. There are currently over five million students enrolled in private schools nationwide - do they all receive vouchers first? And there are roughly ten times that amount in public schools - how many of those students will receive vouchers? How many additional private school placements do you think could be created if students want to leave public schools? It's easy to say let private industry handle it, but the logistics just won't work out in education. You would have fly by night operations opening right and left just to get the government grants while providing an inferior education - there are plenty examples of that in the charter realm already.
Also, would special ed students receive the same amount of voucher as regular ed students? And I'm just trying to imagine the reaction in some segments of our population if tuition grants were given out to people in subsidized housing who don't currently pay real estate taxes.
Unless questions like these can be answered realistically, promoting vouchers amounts to little more than theoretical navel gazing.
I don't support vouchers but I do support switching to privately-operated but publicly-funded schools - basically a system of charter schools. The money would go to the schools directly. They couldn't charge tuition and would have to keep costs within their budget. Private schools that didn't want the public money certainly wouldn't have to take it. There should be some oversight of all schools, even ones not receiving public funds (many of my fellow conservatives will strongly disagree).
What I do find odd is that many of the people who are supporting private schools are against young people attending college. Most private schools are very geared towards sending kids to college.
Oh no, it is..some flowers will prove to be better then others and they will set a higher base line..
You leftist can not stand and compete so you have to prevent this from happening..
And you RWNs virtually never understand what you are suggesting.
The best information around today indicates charters work, at best, as well as the public schools. They offer no advantages. In general we do see some very good charters. But where are they? In middle class neighborhoods where the public schools work very well also. If however you get down to the charters in the low end...terrible performance. Right in there with the worst of the public schools.
But lets test it. Establish charters next to public schools and assign the children to them randomly. Let the schools fight it out. In five years or so we should have a reasonable idea of what does and does not work.
This of course is unlikely to happen. The charter movement has always avoided accountability and the public schools are not fond of it either. Milwaukee alone could have settled the issue...but no one kept score.
Sorry but it is not a "let a thousand flowers bloom" situation.
And why not?
Quote:
A set of basic content is perfectly reasonable and necessary. You need to answer the basic questions. How do you know when you are done?
There's no need for a single, set, centrally imposed one.
Quote:
You don't have to stop at these basics. You may continue and exceed. But you do need a base line. A properly educated persons knows....
I am disagreeing with you. And no, I do not accept your education is superior to mine.
Quote:
And the content of such a standard should change and grow as the knowledge base moves.
Every knowledgeable person knows that centrally imposed standards are never going to good, nor will they evolve in good ways. It is the nature of imposed bureaucracy to impose fads and whims from authority, not needs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
