There outta be a law...

Wasting Education Dollars

Blunt approved an audit of the Jennings School District after over two years of serious concerns with the ‘fiscal and administrative mismanagement.’

The north county district is just one of many schools throughout Missouri that have increased spending while test scores fall. And unfortunately, in many cases, these funds are not being used for student benefit at all.

For example, the former Jennings superintendent Kay Royster spent almost $1 million extra on administrators and $1.5 million more on a Palm Pilot program that has yet to actually be implemented. The district then wasted another $230,000 to buy out Royster’s remaining contract for her termination.

This state audit is at least a step toward bringing the much-needed transparency and accountability to the blatant mismanagement of resources that is unfortunately severely crippling many of our public schools.

This uncovering is a shining example of cutting unnecessary costs without demanding more money or effecting education quality.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/FB5C699084F3D32D86257489000D16D3?OpenDocument

How to Choose Choices

I have children and for some time, I chose to stay home with them. Once I decided to return to work, I chose a nanny over a childcare setting. I have my personal reasons for this, but my point is, I chose. Now, I know not every mother (or father) has the means to make these decisions, but I fortunately did. I am happy I had those choices for my children. Once my children enter school, I will have the choice to send them to the pricey private school or I can chose to send them to the public school down the road, which happens to be a very good school. What if I were the parent on the other side of town, without the resources to chose private, forced to send my children to the public school that has record low grades? How would I feel? Frustrated and angry that parents on the other side of town can still get a free education but it is better, much better? Annoyed that the school in my neighborhood is ranked below all the others? Yes. Now, is that fair?

The Wall Street Journal posted a piece, The Greatest Scandal, about the presidential candidates and their views on educational choices. There were several strong arguments I would like to share.

The profound failure of inner-city public schools to teach children may be the nation's greatest scandal. The differences between the two Presidential candidates on this could hardly be more stark. John McCain is calling for alternatives to the system; Barack Obama wants the kids to stay within that system. We think the facts support Senator McCain.

"Parents ask only for schools that are safe, teachers who are competent and diplomas that open doors of opportunity," said Mr. McCain in remarks recently to the NAACP. "When a public system fails, repeatedly, to meet these minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children." Some parents may opt for a better public school or a charter school; others for a private school. The point, said the Senator, is that "no entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity."

Mr. McCain cited the Washington, D.C., Opportunity Scholarship Program, a federally financed school-choice program for disadvantaged kids signed into law by President Bush in 2004. Qualifying families in the District of Columbia receive up to $7,500 a year to attend private K-12 schools. To qualify, a child must live in a family with a household income below 185% of the poverty level. Some 1,900 children participate; 99% are black or Hispanic. Average annual income is just over $22,000 for a family of four.

A recent Department of Education report found nearly 90% of participants in the D.C. program have higher reading scores than peers who didn't receive a scholarship. There are five applicants for every opening....

Congressional Democrats have refused to reauthorize the D.C. voucher program and are threatening to kill it. Last month, Philadelphia's school reform commission voted to seize six schools from outside managers, including four from Edison. In L.A., local school board members oppose the expansion of charters even though seven in 10 charters in the district outperform their neighborhood peers.

It's well known that the force calling the Democratic tune here is the teachers unions. Earlier this month, Senator Obama accepted the endorsement of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union. Speaking recently before the American Federation of Teachers, he described the alternative efforts as "tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice."...

Mr. Obama told an interviewer recently that he opposes school choice because, "although it might benefit some kids at the top, what you're going to do is leave a lot of kids at the bottom." The Illinois Senator has it exactly backward. Those at the top don't need voucher programs and they already exercise school choice. They can afford exclusive private schools, or they can afford to live in a neighborhood with decent public schools. The point of providing educational options is to extend this freedom to the "kids at the bottom."...

My point exactly! I already have choices, but the children on the other side of town do not. We are in the position to give those children and their parents choices. What are we waiting for? Are the teachers unions that strong? Parents need to fight for their children and overcome the strength of the unions.

Interesting Conversation with Public School Teacher

As the saying goes, never discuss religion, politics, or money. I, like most people, have my own beliefs about how I think the world should work but I do not always want to share it with others. One reason is that I do not want to have a heated debate with a friend or family member that ends in fighting, anger, or resentment. Secondly, I do not think I need to defend my stances to anyone except myself. I feel one way and that is that. While I think some causes are worth the casual conversation, I like to be careful who I say certain things around. This past weekend, a friend of mine who happens to teach in Kansas City's public school system, brought up school choice. Through my experiences, most public school teachers either do not like choice or the unions have brainwashed them...either way, I was a little leery of the conversation about to take part.
To my surprise, as a mother and a teacher, she thought not having choice was one of the worst ideas she had known. As a mother, she could not fathom the idea of having to send her child to the public school she would be sent to. So, she has decided to send her daughter to the private school nearby. It is expensive...$15,000/year and that's only for Kindergarten...the price goes up after that. Now, they are faced with less money for anything else...yet worth it. But what happens when they have their second child? As a teacher, she knows most of her fellow colleges do not feel the same way. When I asked why that is, she said they don't want to face the competition and actually have to work harder and be accountable for the children's failures. That was shocking to me...I felt like I was sneaking around in some sort of secret club, gaining access to the real reasoning behind the anti-choice movement. Her boss had mentioned various reasons why choice is bad, and naturally, only referred to it as vouchers. According to Missouri's constitution, actual vouchers are illegal. The more I hear against choice, the more I realize the opponents have no idea what they are talking about.
At least I can sleep better at night knowing the all powerful teachers unions have not taken over the minds of all teachers. Now if only we could unite teacher for choice...

More Parents Taking Education into Their Own Hands

Unless you do not follow the news or politics, you know there are many concerns with the public education system in the U.S. Over the past several decades, they have tried several ways to fix the monopolistic public school system, but nothing has had much of an impact. Money...money...money...was thrown into the schools with little or no impact on student achievement. No Child Left Behind...well, you know that. Now parents are taking education into their own hands. Newsweek's "Home Schooling: More Than a Million Kids and Growing, Can It Work for Your Family?" examines the increase in parents taking control of their child's education.

While there are no national statistics, researchers who study home schooling estimate that as many as 1.5 million youngsters are currently being taught primarily by their mothers or fathers. That's five times the estimated number of home schoolers just a decade ago and bigger than the nation's largest public-school system, New York City's.

That are a lot of children not going to the public schools...not to mention the ones attending private schools. Does anyone else see a problem here? If this many parents want to stay home and teach their children, isn't that a sign the schools are not good enough? Unfortunately, many parents cannot afford to stay home or cannot afford the better private schools. Of course, there are critics to homeschooling, however, homeschoolers disagree.

Their lesson plans are as diverse as their reasons for dropping out of the system, but what unites all these parents is a belief that they can do a better job at home than trained educators in a conventional school. That would have been an outrageous notion a generation ago, when far fewer parents had college degrees and most people regarded teachers and schools with more respect and even awe. Today parents are much better educated, hooked up to a world of information via the Internet and inundated with headlines about problems plaguing public schools. They see home schooling as one more step in the evolution of parent power that has given birth to school-choice programs, vouchers and charter schools. ""Americans are becoming fussy consumers rather than trusting captives of a state monopoly,'' says Chester Finn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. ""They've declared their independence and are taking matters into their own hands.''

In what field does a monopoly work...not many. It can almost be compared to a dictatorship...there's only one choice, so that is what you get. Now, again, some parents have the choice to home school or do private schools, but most do not. Education should not be run like this! If we open up the education system to free competition, we will surely get better results than we are seeing now.

23 (of 36) was the average ACT score for a home schooler in 1998. Traditionally schooled kids averaged a 21. A 23 could qualify students for a "selective" college.

Sad...very sad to me the schools we are all paying taxes for are all not doing a great job. Sure does make me start to think what I am going to do when my children enter school in a few years.

Wanted: more personal, local control of our children's education

Money has been poured into schools for years, and while some buildings may have automatic towel dispensers in their restrooms throughout the facility, the quality of educations has actually decreased. If we take low quality education and continually pour more money into the process, it is essentially giving raises to the schools for poor performance. Imagine a system with school choice and the changes it could bring about. If schools had to have a motive to draw kids in to create a sense of revenue, they would be forced to plan effectively and execute to stay in competition with every other school; just as every other business must do in order to make ends meet. Our teachers are some of the most intelligent and creative minds in the world, and this would only give them more of an opportunity to express their ideas. If schools just conducted frequent meetings to discuss progress, and gave teachers and officials the opportunity to express ideas that would attract certain kids to that individual school it would benefit everyone involved. Not only would teachers be able to further engage in education, but every school would have the opportunity to develop its own personality and atmosphere to reflect its teachers and students. The only individuals that would suffer would be the schools who had no incentive to bring students in and teachers who have no motivation to help kids, and are these the teachers we want to protect? School choice would wipe out our teachers who are only in it for the summers off, and it would provide a pedestal for our educators who go above and beyond by taking advantage of their ability to think outside of the box.

Getting the word out about existing choices for parents and children in St. Louis

“Choice” is too often the last word parents associate with their child’s education. The truth is that there are many school options in St. Louis. Because a child’s education is a vitally important subject, competition and information to local parents is crucial.

St. Louis public schools enrolled almost 33,000 students during the 2006-07 school year. As the largest district in the state, SLPS has 55 elementary, 16 middle, 16 high and 5 special schools. Students are assigned based on simply on address.

Magnet schools are another option though the SLPS district. These schools have no geographic boundaries and offer unique curriculum. For acceptance to a magnet school, families must apply and are then chosen by a lottery system. Early childhood and elementary have 12 schools specializing in math-science-technology, international studies, visual/performing arts, gifted education or general academics. The 12 middle and high schools offer similar special programs plus a military academy.

Charter schools are independent public school alternatives created by teachers, parents or citizens with a common education mission. Charter schools enrolled 10, 342 in their 22 Missouri schools. High-risk applicants in currently failing public schools are given priority.

Inter-district voluntary transfer programs have offered thousands of African-American students from failing public schools in the city the opportunity to attend public schools in the county. The Voluntary Inter-district Choice Corporation (VICC) possesses the related application and information. The county school available depends on the specific location of the city student.

K-12 Virtual schools are a SLPS effort that began in the 2007-08 school year. Courses are offered using web-based methods as a form of distance learning. Interested families must submit an application—which are available online.

Technical and Career Academies are open to city students. Imagine Academy of Careers and Clyde Miller Career Academy are both examples in the St. Louis area. They offer a more job and need related education to high school students.

Catholic and Lutheran Private Schools provide another option. These religiously affiliated schools are located throughout the city, however they require tuition payments. The Today and Tomorrow Education Foundation offers scholarships for city families in need and are currently accepting applications.

Independent Private Schools also offer a non-public tuition education, however theses schools do not have religious ties. Interested parents should apply at the specific school.

Homeschool is yet another education option. Parents may choose to teach their children at home based on state laws. Homeschool families can often receive support from different religious and secular organizations.

http://stlcin.missouri.org/education/K12.cfm