Saturday, June 19, 2010

Dr. Caroline Hoxby on charter schools

Dr. Caroline Hoxby is a Professor of Economics at Stanford and one of the leading researchers on charter schools. Here is an interview with her on how charter schools work.





She published a study recently on the success of charter schools in Harlem. I'm going to spend some time on charter schools this summer as the media in Mississippi has never covered charter schools. There is a great deal of ignorance about charter schools and much misinformation put out by the NAACP and the teachers unions.

Mississippians need to realize one crucial fact: WE ARE A POOR STATE. That means for the foreseeable future, we are going to have a limited amount of resources and a monumental task in educating our children. If anyone thinks we will be able to afford paying teachers an average salary of $45,000 a year and have classroom sizes of fifteen students, give me the drugs he is taking. I think of the education lobby in Mississippi as the Redcoats in the French and Indian Wars. The Redcoats would line up in the forest in their bright red uniforms, march forward in tight but pretty formations, while the enemy, ignorance and illiteracy, massacre them as they refuse to change or adapt to reality.

When you have fewer resources and don't have much time, that means you have to experiment and come up with solutions that make better use of what money you do have. Something I'm not seeing in our public schools. Charter schools are one way of using our money more smartly and should be looked at more closely. Those who argue they are racist and a means for perpetuating Mississippi's past legacy of segregation are liars and are only interested in maintaining the status quo that serves them so well. You know the types. They don't care if the ship is sinking as long as they are captain of the ship, everyone else be damned. Charter schools are one way of moving Mississippi forward - If we have the courage to use them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with efficient use of resources and that charter schools will be a huge help to capable students with supportive parents.

Until we FACE that schools cannot educate AND offer therapy AND aid the handicapped but are to educate those who are willing and able to learn, we'll not get this right.

A teacher who teaches class of children with behavior problems or limited capabilities cannot be expected to get the same test results as a teacher with gifted students. Yet THAT is exactly what we expect.

We are sacrificing the education of our brightest children to teach to the weakness child in the class.

Every other country in the modern world is identifying and supporting their brightest and most talented children EARLY.

Worse,is that being bright for a child in a class of below average children in the US becomes a negative as the social pressure is to CONFORM.

Being bright and well educated is , less face it, resented rather than admired in the US. We are far more attracted to a pretty face and money. We want to elect leaders that we'd like to have a beer with and be certain they didn't make us feel inadequate while we bend elbows.

We are perfectly willing to let uneducated people with terrible personal histories dictate public opinion along with pretty talking heads. We NEVER bother to wonder if they EVER did homework on this or ANY subject of the moment as long as they SOUND good...which is no more than reading from a prompter.

We don't want anyone to make us feel stupid even if that means we STAY stupid ourselves . And,God forbid our children should be smarter than we are as they might not respect or admire us as much if they ever realize we aren't omnipotent.

.

Anonymous said...

Well said. We spend a small fortune to send our kids to a private school that is 180 degrees from the typical MS public school.

That being said, my kids are as baffled as I am that there are parents who spend the same amount who tolerate (or are unaware of) their kids bringing home Ds and Fs. We check every single piece of homework they bring home, help where necessary, and are happy they are doing well there. I think the secret to the success of charter schools is the motivation of those parents who seek them out for their kids.

Anonymous said...

Charter schools will never happen as long as there are morons such as this in the legislature.
See this link, 14 paragraphs into article, for Rep. Willie Perkins intelligent comments about education and parental choice of educations for their child:
http://gwcommonwealth.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/top_stories/06172010news01.txt
This link is the editor's take on Willie's superior IQ and thought processes:
http://gwcommonwealth.com/articles/2010/06/18/opinion/editorials/06182010edit1.txt


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