school choice

The recent New York Times story about a remarkable drop in  test scores (after being recalibrated by New York State), should give us immediate pause and force a reassessment of claims about what really works in public education.  Many people are  scrambling to explain away what happened.  Some are even complaining that “the goalposts were moved.”   Some of the shining lights of the charter school movement are at a loss and can only say: “we just have to try harder.”  Try harder at what?!  Teaching to the test?  Teaching even more skills to improve performance on standardized tests?  I would like to suggest the crazy notion that the ladder is against the wrong wall.  Unfortunately, for too many people, this will have a short news cycle and it will become business as usual.

Abdication of Responsibility

I’ve said it before:  the game is rigged.  The idea of a meritocracy in education is laughable.  We’ve seen during our recent series of financial woes that qualities like integrity, hard work and sound morals have no significant correlation to economic success at the very top.  IQ cannot be proven to directly influence economic outcomes.

The merit myth also applies to education.  One thing that may be “post -racial” about this country is the extent to which the lives of poor, working, and middle class – Black or White – are all dictated by the needs of an oligarchy determined to maintain its power and privilege.   This plays out starkly in the field of education.  I have too much experience with elite private schools to believe that it’s about hard work, good character, and intelligence. I’ve been in too many meetings with wealthy supporters of charter schools to believe that they would subject their own children to the same education model they believe in so strongly for poor children.

Taking It Back

Education is a gatekeeper but not the type that anyone interested in fairness or American ideals should allow.  Educational attainment is primarily a reflection of family income.  This has to change if this country is too have a significant, viable  future.  Here are a few things that those of us interested in fairness and the future of the Republic should do:

• Read anything by John Taylor Gatto.
• Do your own research on best practices in literacy.
• Learn more about the history of education models like Montessori and Reggio Emilia
• Skip the vacation to the Hamptons and attend an event sponsored by the Appleseed Project.
• Attend a meetup of the local homeschooling association.
• Join a charter school board.
• Help kids get involved in Junior Achievement, Civil Air Patrol, and 4-H Clubs.
• Teach your children to play and win the “Inner Game.”
• Don’t blindly accept “expert” definitions of “measurable success.”
• Teach your children that competition doesn’t always have to be a zero sum game – it can also be about cooperation where you and your opponent bring out the best in each other.
• Learn the difference between end goals (which we don’t have total control over) and process goals (which we can control).

Knowing the truth about inheritance, family income, and luck should give those at the top some pause, greater humility, and a desire to do better by those less fortunate.  In the meantime, we have to get tougher, smarter, and more strategic about doing it for ourselves.

Do you have any models of schools that work for everyone?

It’s also worth checking out his 2006 TED talk.

Albert Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems at the same level of consciousness at which we created them.” Yet this is exactly what we do in our efforts at educational reform. There continue to be dueling reports about whether charter schools work any better for underprivileged kids than the regular school system. From what I can tell, this is only a discussion about the best form of palliative care.

I go back and forth on why we do what we do with our children and their education. Is it a desire for social and economic control by our oligarchs? Is it greed? Is it a lack of imagination? A combination, or something else entirely?

This affects us all and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’ll be talking about health, lawyers, and such in future posts but this one will be some news/observations about schooling and family. An interesting event took place in New Hampshire recently where a small group of legislators sought to cut back on homeschooling. They were trying to institute what were described by homeschool supporters as “draconian measures.” The legislation was resoundingly defeated by the state’s organized homeschool movement. I was heartened by the homeschool victory and amused by the fact that the proposed “draconian measures” would actually have made New Hampshire law scarily like that of New York’s.

My respect for options like homeschooling and the democratic school movement continues to grow. The growth has been helped as I read the reflections of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, W.E.B. Dubois, Frederick Douglass, Henry Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and others on their own educational paths.

I look back on my own education and increasingly realize the gaps. The gaps are not evidenced by lack of prestige or professional attainment. My realization focuses on the question (and the disappointing answer) of how useful my formal education has made me to those around me. My new freedom will hopefully allow me to do something about that. I look forward to scheduling training as an EMT; getting licensed as a Ham Radio operator; becoming an NRA firearms instructor; teaching English to people intent on becoming citizens; and teaching adults and children how to crack the code so that they can begin to read.

In my perfect world, I would be able to share the lessons I have learned with children who have no families – my wife and I would love to run an orphanage. Newt Gingrich caused an uproar when he suggested that a number of poor children would be better off in orphanages. There are studies to show that he was not far from the truth for many children. I have my own experience in dealing with foster parents who seem to look at this arrangement as solely a way to make money.

My orphanage would ideally be in a remote rural area where the children would work hard, be raised in a non-denominational Christian setting, eat lots of healthy food, be raised with a lot of love, learn in a natural way that made sense for each child, engage in combative sports, and learn wilderness and social survival skills – children growing up to be decent AND strong. We wouldn’t have the best of anything but we would have an abundance of the most important things.

My former board members at Boys & Girls Harbor (you didn’t think I would leave you out of a weekend post, did you?), the foolish statements, of those being questioned by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee, and the proven and growing resolve of this country’s enemies show me that education has to train and develop character. Young people must be educated to become useful. Their education should prepare them to change someone else’s life and to “pay it forward.” We’ve already seen what happens when people get stuck at lower stages of moral development. The country (and the voiceless of the world) cannot continue to survive our lack of focus.

Providing under-served children with real school choice is something I am passionate about.  I was fortunate to have a visit last week from a guy named Bob Muzikowski.  He is the founder and head of Chicago Hope Academy.  This Christian-based school has done amazing work in its brief existence.  They are clear in their mission and character education flows naturally through the curriculum.  Their athletic teams are successful and represent what team sports are supposed to develop.

This is a life mission for Muzikowski and he has put his bucket down in a difficult part of the United States. I wish more people did the hard work and looked for the elements that make for a complete education and I wish there were more “workers” like Bob Muzikowski because “the harvest is plenty.”