Vol. 11, No. 35
CHOICE
DC's MOST WANTED. A group of national civil rights advocates headed by Kevin Chavous and Dr. Howard Fuller today entered into a standoff with police as they blocked entrance into the U.S. Department of Education, ramping up their actions on behalf of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program to match the level of inaction by the Obama Administration to continue the successful program providing children most in need a chance for a brighter future. As the President was preparing to speak to America's school children, Federal law enforcement backed away from the protest in hopes that it would not be a black mark for the Department in the middle of a tense news cycle. "You may not handcuff me, but you're handcuffing our kids and holding them back," said Kevin Chavous. "We are not going to be deterred from making sure this program is reauthorized. We're willing to put our bodies on the line... You may not lock us up, but we'll be back."
WAITING FOR GOOD SCHOOLS. As a new school year begins, hundreds of thousands of families nationwide are on waiting lists for coveted schools of choice. In Massachusetts, 23,000 kids languish in school limbo waiting for a chance to enroll in a charter school. In Texas and Rhode Island, where the number of charter schools are capped, lotteries for charter spots are emotionally charged. In the Sunshine State, demand for charters in some areas has seen a more than 15 percent boost in enrollment as Florida charters continue to raise the achievement of their students. And in Maryland, some schools report a ratio of more than 2:1 for seats in their schools. "I think that we have built up a really good reputation," says one Baltimore charter principal. "I think some folks find it a safe community for their kids." With Baltimore city charters outperforming their conventional peers, how is it that their teachers union is allowed to choke the city's brightest charter star, KIPP Ujima Village? With the president calling on students to work hard, maybe it's time to give them enough choices where they can do so!
DEMANDS FULFILLED. Some states have found additional ways to provide choices to families, and lawmakers are running uphill to keep pace with the demands of parents. In Georgia, 79 percent of parents now using scholarships had been disappointed in their assigned school's inability to meet the needs of their student, but now find that their special needs children are being given the chance to excel. Ohio now has 12,685 students enrolled in the statewide program that provides vouchers to kids. In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal won several hard-fought battles with that state's legislature to secure funding for programs providing "life-changing opportunities for children and families." Choice has also become a hot-button issue in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, with candidates floating innovative education platforms that include both charters and scholarships. More proof that news of the death of parental school choice was premature.
TEACHERS
THOSE WHO CAN. A steady chorus of support continues to build for performance pay so that those who can teach will continue to do so over time, encouraged by rewards for achievement in the classroom. Despite strong union opposition, calls to clear the dead weight of poor teachers out of our schools so the best can remain and influence others are appearing with more and more frequency. It is becoming more and more clear to people that "of all the myriad problems with public schools, the most identifiable and solvable is the ludicrous policy of tenure for teachers." Stories about New York City's rubber rooms provide an in-depth look at the bureaucratic nightmare conceived by unions to keep teachers on school payrolls regardless of their performance. "You can never appreciate how irrational the system is until you've lived with it," says NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
In Other News...
The President's address to schoolchildren today was straightforward and simple and reactions ranged from outrage to acceptance. Some districts weighed parental consent while others pushed to have administrators review President Obama's remarks before making a decision as to whether or not to broadcast the event in classrooms. In the end it all seemed like much to do about nothing but it could have been a wake up call for all Americans to get real about the crisis facing US schools. To help parents make sense out of it all, CER published a parent's guide for talking to their kids about the President's speech.
