A Flying Rip . . . Rant . . . . Rave . . . .

TO Jonah Goldberg . . . L. A. columnist

Dear Mr. Goldberg,

"Private, parochial and charter schools get better results." Your words. And you are wrong that charter schools get better results. In Gerald Bracey's book Setting the Record Straight: Responses to Misconceptions About Public Education in the U. S., it is pointed out that charter schools are not getting better results, particularly when you compare demographically similar charter schools and public schools. Perhaps part of your own education should be to read more instead of regurgitating more of the media spin machine anti-public school nonsense.

Seeing that you cite Milton Friedman, I can't help but imagine you are among those who believe that schools should be run like a business. How sad and misguided. Schools exist to educate children and in the United States they exist to create an educated electorate to participate in our democratic republic. Students are not widgets to be manufactured.

One advantage that private, parochial, and charter schools have over public schools is control over their student population. Public schools take all comers. And for some reason, the highest correlative to test scores is the socio-economic status of the students. How about some attempt to close the income gap, then perhaps there would be some close on the achievement gap? However, if it weren't for public schools, the achievement gap would be far greater than the income gap.

For the record, I am a public school teacher in Denver, Colorado. The current political climate makes it difficult to make a difference in the lives of the kids I teach. The pressure to perform on "high-stakes" tests that have no proven value whatsoever is extreme. But the parents of a majority of the kids I teach have faith in me and my colleagues. Too bad the rest of the country, particularly the pundits and politicians don't. Despite teachers being highly-trained professionals, our judgment about students, with whom we spend an extraordinary amount of time, is relegated to the the shelf of insignificance. It seems that too many individuals, especially politicians, think that because they went to school they are experts on education. That just isn't so, and it would be nice if the policy makers and pundits would ask professional educators their opinions once in a while.

Sincerely,

Sean Michael Black, M. A., Ed. S.

posted by Sean Black @ 8:19 PM