Education

Five Myths About School Choice

Jan. 30, 2013 2:51pm

Casey Given is a policy analyst covering education and labor issues at the Americans For Prosperity Foundation.

This week is National School Choice Week, a celebration of the efforts to ensure every child in this United States has access to effective education. School Choice Week presents a great opportunity to counter the misinformation spread about the struggle to expand disadvantaged students’ educational opportunities. Here are five myths about the school choice movements that its opponents love to circulate:

1. School choice is a radical idea.
Every state in the union has some sort of school choice program today – be it charter schools, opportunity scholarships, private school tax credits, etc. Even blue state bastions like California and New York have some of the strongest charter school laws in the nation, hosting hundreds of these innovative schools. Clearly school choice has a bipartisan coalition of support that crosses geographic boundaries and is in the mainstream of education reform.

2. Charter schools perform worse than public schools.
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have traced charter schools’ performance, and the overwhelming majority of them conclude that charter schools on average perform just as well or significantly better than traditional public schools. In fact, the latest and largest review of these studies found that two-thirds of them conducted after 2001 concluded charter schools are better.

3. School choice programs exclude poor, low-performing students.
Many school choice programs are only available for poor, low-performing students, such as the New York City’s Success Academy schools and Washington, D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarship. Despite accepting some of the most desperate public school students, these programs have had amazing results. 96% of Success Academy students passed the math section of NYC’s assessment test last year, outperforming the city’s public schools by 31%, and an unbelievable 100% passed the science section. In D.C., 82% of Opportunity Scholarship students graduated high school, compared to 70% of those not selected for the program.

4. School choice steals money from public schools.
This objection implies that public schools deserve state money for failing. Good public schools should certainly be well funded for doing their job, but bad public schools should not force students to be stuck with mediocrity just to pay for teachers and their unions. Our schools are not janitorial institutions but exist for the sake of imparting American students with the quality education they deserve. If a caring parent feels like a charter or private school could do this job better, the state should spend his or her student’s per pupil funding there for the sake of improving education.

5. School choice picks winners and losers.
School choice makes what failing public school would make “losers” into “winners.” It’s true that charter schools and opportunity scholarships unfortunately cannot accommodate for every child in need. But, this is not school choice’s fault, but rather state and local governments for limiting access to charters and opportunity scholarships. Caring citizens should demand that our governments stand up for more school choice so more students can become “winners” in the future.

You can read more myths and learn the facts about school choice in the recent report from our sister organization Americans for Prosperity Foundation entitled “A Nation Still at Risk: The Continuing Crisis of Federal Education Reform and Its State Solution.”

Comments (16)

  • Bikkiboo
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 9:16pm

    In our area, charter schools have performed worse than public schools, and several have lost their charters. This is somewhat surprising. As a retired teacher, I haven’t favored school choice because it creams off the best students, removing the role models for the rest of the kids. That’s really why public schools are in a mess now. First, the wealthier students with motivated parents went to the elite private schools. Then, the next level of motivated parents scrimped to send their kids to religious schools. Then another level of motivated parents decided to home school. Each left the public schools with fewer of the families who push their kids to succeed and work hard. That’s why they are in their present state. Now, with vouchers, the parents who were motivated but had no funds or chance to home school are sending their kids to these choice schools. That leaves the public school with the kids whose parents don’t care much if they’re educated and who pass that attitude along to the kids. They’ve never done well in school because of attitude. Public Schools are also left with the special needs kids that the voucher schools won’t take. How can you expect them to “improve because of the competition”? That’s like expecting your middle school football team to win the Super Bowl against an NFL team!

    Report this comment

    Bikkiboo  
    • glassaudioguy
      Feb. 1, 2013 at 10:19pm

      Other than the elites who’ve pretty much always sent their kids to the best, most exclusive schools, you’ve got it backwards- the other groups started pulling their kids when the public schools started deteriorating. Leaving them there wouldn’t have solved the problem. As the article stated there are schools which DO take the underachievers and turn them into winners. Let’s create more of those schools.

      Report this comment

      glassaudioguy  
    • calmandcents
      Feb. 2, 2013 at 1:23am

      The public schools will only get better when the teacher’s unions are dismantled, academic decisions are imposed by the parents of the local communities, and all funding is based solely on performance. Sorry self-absorbed bureaucrats, but you’ve screwed us long enough.

      Report this comment

      calmandcents  
    • ComingUnglued
      Feb. 3, 2013 at 10:58am

      It’s not my job, or my sons job to motivate another student to do better. That’s your job, the teachers job, to engage, to teach and to motivate.

      Your unions have made it impossible to deviate from the curriculum, to think outside the box, to teach the kids.

      I have heard it all before. We need smaller classes, no interaction with the upper classes. I went to Catholic elementary school. I can read, write and spell better than most. I had at least 25-30 kids in my class, I am 50 years old. People older had more kids in the class. How is it that we all learned? Why are the kids today not doing better? They have smaller classes, supposedly, more one on one with the teacher. They are not learning the basics. My kids are learning more about diversity than anything. Your unions are doing them a disservice. They are not being prepared to succeed in the real world. They won’t until the teachers stand up and say enough is enough. This is not working.

      Report this comment

      ComingUnglued  
    • LisaAW
      Feb. 3, 2013 at 11:46am

      In response to your idea about the homeschooled parents. We are motivated by as many reasons to educate our own children as there are families homeschooling/home educating/carschooling/or just plain living outside the ‘box’. What I hear most often is ‘we are not able to because of lack of time, money or ability. Most of the home educated folks know this is false. Everyone is able at anytime to teach their own. Lecture style which usually has a 25/1 ratio or less is the least effective way to learn.

      Imagine all of the freebie information online. It is vast. Anyone can educate themselves online for a fee or for free. What in the world is stopping people from getting out of institutions (both k-12 and college)? Nothing but habit and lack of courage keeps them from trying something different.

      Report this comment

       
    • LisaAW
      Feb. 3, 2013 at 12:47pm

      One more comment. The #1 profession of a homeschool parent is public school teacher-(also principals) (see: hslda website) Do we need any more red flags than that?

      Report this comment

       
  • The_Cabrito_Goat
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 12:07pm

    @ #2

    In my experience, I made a checklist for school quality,

    First: Home Schooling

    Second: Private Schooling

    Third: Charter Schools

    Fourth: (duh?) public schools

    Charter schools may not be the best, but *anything* is better than public schooling.

    Report this comment

    The_Cabrito_Goat  
  • Moliminous
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 11:26am

    The ultimate school choice would be the Separation of School and State. This would be the final full-flowering of our Constitutional Republic. The government and its unions should have no place in schooling except to encourage its fruition. If academic competition, real standards, and honest deliberations were a part of American schooling (as it tends to be in the private sector), the sky would be the limit. Let’s get back to basics–a Separation of School and State.

    Report this comment

    Moliminous  
  • @leftfighter
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 9:28am

    …BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!

    My wife and I were looking into school choice options for one of my kids. He’s remarkably bright. So bright, he was given a mid-year promotion (went from second to fourth), has qualified for Duke TIP, which is a program which is only offered to the creme de la creme of kids. All of his teachers are telling me I need to get him into an IB school program.

    I loved the idea of giving my kid the absolute best my school district could give him… until…

    Turns out the IB stands for International Bachelaureate. The program is an offshoot of Agenda 21. They (and this is a paraphrase of one of the teachers I spoke with from the school) ‘don’t teach civics from a rah-rah America is the best nation on the planet’ standpoint. We have a mini-U.N. program where we have the kids research the country they’re assigned to represent and vote they way they think that country would vote. Then, once they get to the 8th Grade, we take them to the UN to see it all up close.”

    I said someting akin to, “I LOVE the idea! Do you have anything like that for the U.S. government instead of the U.N.? We in my house *do* believe America is the greatest nation on the planet. I’m raising an American; not a world citizen.”

    Him: Uh… no….

    Needless to say, he’s not going to the IB school. We chose one that focuses on astrophysics, aeronautics and robotics instead.

    Report this comment

    @leftfighter  
    • SysAdminPgh
      Feb. 4, 2013 at 2:17am

      Here in Pittsburgh, Upper St. Clair school district has that crap (IB) and even when the taxpayers voted to ax the stupid thing guess who sued to keep it? The head of the local ACLU! Now the IB program has been allowed to take over an entire K-6 school. A PRIVATE, FOREIGN group took over a tax payer built building. Who enrolls in this program? Not the best and brightest… They take AP courses. The bottom feeders. They also cost the taxpayers more than double per student. But this the court ruled that OK. Now parents are being forced into this program so their kids can attend the closest school. And 90% are dropping it when they get to the High School and guess what? They are so far behind the “Normal” students. But I bet they “Feel” more friendly towards the rest of the world… And also “Hate” America more.

      Report this comment

      SysAdminPgh  
  • NoSleeper
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 5:52am

    Public schools are a joke. Enormous bureaucracies, bloated teachers unions, rampant violence and (not surprisingly) poor education are all you can expect.

    Between my wife, myself and our children, we have experienced public schools in California, Washington (state), Hawaii, Missouri, Texas and Florida, so I do not speak from a position of isolation or ignorance.

    We can fix the education system by dissolving the Department Of Education and returning complete control to the States, where it belongs. Let the States’ residents decide how to educate their children. Partial or full privatization of education should be considered – smaller, competitive schools will result in choice for the parents, improved education for the children, reduced violence and better pay for the teachers…all at less expense to the tax payer. And before you poo-poo my comments, look at what has been achieved by privatizing State parks and even private security at airports. As always, more Government is not the answer.

    Report this comment

    NoSleeper  
  • gbrittain
    Feb. 1, 2013 at 2:36am

    In 1993, the DC government run schools were not good enough for Chelsea Clinton.

    In 2009, the DC government run schools were not good enough for Obama’s daughters.

    How much longer will the DC government run schools be good enough for the kids who cannot afford to send their children to private school?

    Report this comment

    gbrittain  
    • @SoquelCreek
      Feb. 1, 2013 at 1:10pm

      Based on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests performed by the U.S. Department of Education, the DC public school system scores below all 50 states. There may be worst-performing cities out there, but DC public schools score below the averages of all 50 states. Ironically, the Department of Defense schools (DoDEA) score relatively high scores.

      Here’s a post I wrote specifically about California public schools, which also perform poorly on the NAEP test. It includes data for DC schools.
      http://soquelbythecreek.blogspot.com/2012/12/california-public-schools-and.html

      Report this comment

      @SoquelCreek  
  • Imprimatur
    Jan. 31, 2013 at 3:23pm

    The teachers unions and the corrupt and conniving government hoodlums would disagree even when confronted with these facts. That’s why 40% of public school teachers and hypocritical rich lefties send their kids to private schools

    Report this comment

    Imprimatur  
    • Bikkiboo
      Feb. 1, 2013 at 9:31pm

      40% of school teachers do NOT send their kids to private school! Show me the studies for that figure! The reason our schools are in bad shape is because our society is in bad shape. Schools see the kids from dysfunctional families as early as 4-5 years old. They see how their parents don’t care about them, how they just had a kid at age 15 because everyone else in their social group is having one at 15. Teachers see how the kids come to school dirty, late, unfed, and tired. Even tho’ the parents have iPhones and HDTV. They hear the parents’ words coming from the kids’ mouths: “My mom said I don’t have to pay attention to you!” They’ve heard about the parents threatening the principal. This kind of kid and family was once rare, but since the 60′s kids began having kids, it’s gotten more and more frequent until now the numbers of kids like this are the majority in some schools. It’s all happened at the same time schools have been forbidden to discipline. I had an 8th grader say, “Why do the worst kids get the best stuff?”, talking about being suspended for bad behavior. Bad behavior gets you several vacation days. Kids not taught how to behave from birth rarely learn how to behave; they raise themselves. Watch the kids in restaurants now. Would you like those kids in YOUR child’s classroom? They’re there! Seen The Nanny TV show? Those kids weren’t taught how to behave from birth either. They’re in your kid’s class too. That’s why schools

      Report this comment

      Bikkiboo  
    • wahooman
      Feb. 2, 2013 at 9:32pm

      @BIKKIBOO – IMPRIMATUR is referring to a Washington Times 9/22/2004 article that showed almost 40% of the public school teachers in Chicago sent their children to private schools. In Philadelphia it was 44 percent, Cincinnati, 41%, San Francisco-Oakland, 34% and in New York City it was 33%. The study was done by the Thomas B Fordham Institute which found that more than 1 in 5 public school teachers nationwide said their children attend a private school. As the article states, “Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children.” Do a Google search for the article with the title, “Public schools no place for teachers’ kids.” You can also do a search for the Thomas B Fordham Institute publication entitled “Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids to School?”

      Report this comment

      wahooman  

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