EDU Trending: Co-opt Education through Charters and “Choice”
This is not another article debating the superior merits of public schools vs. charter schools. As I wrote in a recent blog, it is a false premise. Some public and charterschools are excellent. Some public and charter schools are less so.
Instead, this is a report of what can happen when charters and “Choice” are used to distract from a sweeping political agenda. It is the story of a state law that would ignore the Constitution’s Establishment Clause and erase the line in education that separates church and state, shift per pupil money from those who need it most to those who will most benefit, undercut public schools’ financial ability to properly serve their students, and, in my opinion, set the course for school privatization.
The state is Indiana. The law is Senate Bill 391 - signed by Governor Holcomb on May 5th and marketed as a multi-million dollar increase in funding for charter schools. It is so much more.
These are the facts: 1) The bill will increase financial support, for charters, including a share of property taxes, to be more in line with per pupil support in public schools. 2) It extends charters’ authorizations for 7 to 15 years. 3) It does not require additional accountability for charters and leaves their operating independence and teaching flexibility intact. Some people are angry and want charters to “play by the same rules” in exchange for the raise in public funding. It is a reasonable argument. It is also a distraction. There is more.
4) In addition to the financial appropriations awarded to charter schools, financial increases will be
allotted to “schools of all types.” Translation: The Choice Scholarship voucher program will be
expanded to offer more families the financial ability to attend private schools. 5) As the Choice
program grows, vouchers will benefit wealthier households with annual incomes over $100,000
at the expense of families earning less than $50,000 per year.
6) There is more. Over 99% of Indiana’s Choice Scholarship voucher money goes to private
religious schools. Such funding ignores the long-standing separation of church and state in
education established in the Constitution. Parents have every right to educate their children at
schools in keeping with their personal preferences and beliefs. But in Indiana, cynical
legislators are gaming the educational system to advance their political and economic agenda, using public funds for private education.
If this practice is allowed to continue, public schools could be squeezed out of viable existence while private education takes place behind
closed doors and beyond public reach or opinions. At this writing, lawmakers in 41 other states are proposing (or pushing forward with) similar
practices.
Co-opting education for political gain is the ultimate deprivation of choice. If we do nothing to stop it by getting involved and by voting, this
trend will be a growing danger to our democracy and our future. As our children head back to school, we have a lot to consider.
News and Views: The Trouble with Recess
The trouble with recess is that it takes away from “time on task.” So does Physical Education. So do the arts. These classes are critical contributors to the development of healthy bodies and healthy minds. Yet, except in pre-K to third grade, they have all but disappeared from public education.
They have been replaced by test prep and skill and drill that are supposed to produce good test scores in core academic subjects - math, science, social studies, and English. The hoped for results are college acceptance and/or career readiness, and the success that will surely follow.
Time on task dictates school schedules and our children’s classroom activities for every minute of the day. As a result, the following four correlations are true.
1) There is a steep rise in childhood obesity among all age groups.
2) There is a marked increase in anxiety and stress, particularly among high school students
3) The learning gap, exacerbated during COVID may take several years to close.
4) From fourth grade on, kids increasingly report that they hate school. (When asked what they do like about school, invariably they cite an after school activity.)
When it comes to time on task, decades of national and global research prove over and over again that less is definitely more. Students need time every day to refresh, regroup, and reenergize - just as adults do when we take a coffee break or a long lunch. They also need time for creative expression and imagination.
If we want our kids to achieve academically, develop social skills and emotional well-being, and be happy, it is time to take off the blinders, read the research, change our mindsets, and give our kids what they need, starting with recess for all grades. To quote one educator: “…recess should be a valued part of the day…It’s the best social/emotional learning.”
And, as reported in our newsletter, (Unpacking Education, June, No. 20) incorporating the arts into mainstream curriculum is the final element in a winning equation for our students:
Physical Activity + the Arts = Social/Emotional Well-Being > Improved Academic Achievement
The above formula was used in U.S. schools throughout the 20th century. High school students of yesteryear scored higher on aptitude tests than their 2023 counterparts. Does this mean that students 100 years ago were more intelligent than students today? No, but it suggests that they had a richer, more comprehensive, and more intellectually diverse curriculum. Why would we walk away from a proven formula? It is something to think about.
Because the trouble with recess (and PE and the arts) is that there isn’t enough of it.
Question of the Day: Child Obesity
From toddlers to high school students, child obesity is a chronic and mounting problem in the United States,
foreshadowing potential health issues. With that in mind, how many of our children and teens, ages 2 to 19,
are currently affected by obesity?
5.8 million
8.4 million
10.2 million
14.7 million
17.1 million
For the correct answer, please go to the blog.
From Me to You: Heavy Lifting
The headline of a recent article, authored by David Steiner, states: “American’s education system is a mess, and it’s students who are paying the price.”
Steiner is disdainful of the hand-wringers who pontificate about what is wrong, but not how to fix it. He decries the short shrift given to the arts, graphic design, and environmental science; the importance attributed to tests that do not test mastery; less than stellar CTE programs versus models used in other countries; and rampant grade inflation. He concludes: “We simply call success what was once failure.” He is right, and his frustration is palpable.
When it comes to U.S. education, it is time for some heavy lifting.
The angst parents feel today may well be a nagging, but unacknowledged suspicion that our education system is more than a mess. It is in crisis. To admit that forces us to face the gaping black hole of the unknown and ask: What do we do about it? How long will it take? Will it be too late for my child?
These questions beg for answers which require research. It is readily available in K-12 schools across the United States and throughout the world where children are happy and thriving – socially and academically; teachers are highly regarded, trusted professionals; and parents are appreciative and welcome as valued members of the team.
Below are a few of the schools, teachers, districts, and countries, that work for kids. They are different, but their values and educational goals are the same, grounded in trusting relationships and criteria of high expectations socially and academically that are aspirational and challenging, creative, and rigorous.
STAR Academy Elementary Public School, NYC; Cambridge Community Charter School (Grades 6-12), Cambridge, MA; High Tech High, Middle, and Elementary charter schools, CA; Camden, NJ public schools; Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical public school; Hathorne, MA; The Met Regional and Technical Center, a network of 6 small public high schools in Providence and Newport, RI, that have whose philosophy of Big Picture Learning is emulated around the world.
To see how teachers are making a difference with the support of their schools and districts, google Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute. Check successful education systems in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta, Canada. Finally watch the documentary The Finland Phenomenon, free on YouTube.
If the list above seems daunting, and you want a quick look at some exemplars mentioned, check out my blog and newsletter (Unpacking Education Archives) at www.merleschell.com. Research may seem a fanciful indulgence when confronted with the huge elephant in the room: The continuing mass exodus of teachers and a corresponding sharp decline in college students studying for a career in education. They are not coming back while our education system is in chaos and their jobs are not worthy of the title ‘teacher.’
That is the point of research. We must try to do what is right for our children: Change our mindset and rethink education, based on proven and successful holistic models that result in student’s well-being and academic achievement. And trust that when teaching is once again an honorable, respected, gratifying profession, some of the noble best and brightest may return.
Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” We are driving ourselves and our children crazy. We have better options.
Note: David Steiner is director of the John Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, professor of education at John Hopkins University, and a member of the Maryland State Board of Education. He previously served as commissioner of the New York State Education Department.