4 ms·

You do have a say! School board meetings are usually public and the board elections are democratic (usually. Some districts, usually in the south still have so

You do have a say! School board meetings are usually public and the board elections are democratic (usually. Some districts, usually in the south still have some at-large boards seats for racism reasons). When I was a teacher and blamed for things by parents I had no power over (e.g. standardized tests mandated by the state) I wished parents would direct their (justified & righteous) rage at the school board and state politicians instead. “School choice” isn’t school choice unless I’m free choose to send my kids to the rich district across town or the private school the politicians and elites send their kids to.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
another_story 5y ago
You won't be able to, though, because admissions will be full at those schools.
- Pulcinella 5y ago
  Yep so it’s not really a choice, is it? People shouldn’t have to choose between “good schools” and “bad schools.” The idea of trying to find a home “with good schools” should be a thing of the past. All schools should good schools. I think that is the goal to work towards, not having parents fight for the too few remaining life-rafts.
  - lettergram 5y ago
    So give every kid $15k/year and be done with it. Schools will open in neighborhoods that have 8 students and one stellar teacher. You’ll have all the parents coming by and seeing the kids and joining in the education process. Other parents might want their kid to have a classical education. Other parents might want a traditional Islamic education. Others may want a massive university style education, with half online. All of these styles can be possible with school choice. I don’t really understand the vitriol. Its better for everyone if everyone is more involved and has a more tailored approach. Even those with special needs, it’s not unreasonable to double the credit. Have them get help. I think there’s plenty of ways to improve this.
    - asoneth 5y ago
      > give every kid $15k/year and be done with it I like the idea in principle, but one challenge I haven't seen addressed is that the cost of educating a student is not uniform. Students on either end of the bell curve with special needs, unstable home situations, no/broken English, exceptional intelligence, ADHD, behavioral issues, etc cost more than average. Therefore, similar to health insurance, every organization is incentivized to attract cheaper-than-average students/patients and expel or discourage the expensive ones. You typically end up with the most expensive participants dumped onto the public schools/plans which results in a death spiral. In my experience, most people love this kind of libertarian approach right up until the moment they find out they're going to be one of the expensive ones, at which point they discover a newfound appreciation for public services.
nradov 5y ago
With school choice and vouchers we expect new schools to open up. We aren't permanently limited to just the schools that already exist in rich and poor districts.
macinjosh 5y ago
> “School choice” isn’t school choice unless I’m free choose to send my kids to the rich district across town or the private school the politicians and elites send their kids to. This is your own partisan definition of school choice. And frankly this attitude is why public schools are so terrible. The current system where people are forced to pay for school through taxes and then are forced to go to a specific public school means the system has ZERO reason or incentive to improve or change because their students are more like prisoners in that they have no choice where to go. In reality school choice creates competition in the education market. If school choice were allowed to exist there would be no bad schools or they would be around for less time because people would vote with their feet and find a school that is worth it. The bad schools would go out of business. This has already been proven to work with public and private charter schools which are hot beds for innovation and great student outcomes. Charter schools where students aren’t served well exist but they go out of business quickly due to students leaving. Would it be perfect? No. Would it be better than what we have, most definitely.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

another_story 5y ago

You won't be able to, though, because admissions will be full at those schools.

Pulcinella 5y ago
Yep so it’s not really a choice, is it? People shouldn’t have to choose between “good schools” and “bad schools.” The idea of trying to find a home “with good schools” should be a thing of the past. All schools should good schools. I think that is the goal to work towards, not having parents fight for the too few remaining life-rafts.
- lettergram 5y ago
  So give every kid $15k/year and be done with it. Schools will open in neighborhoods that have 8 students and one stellar teacher. You’ll have all the parents coming by and seeing the kids and joining in the education process. Other parents might want their kid to have a classical education. Other parents might want a traditional Islamic education. Others may want a massive university style education, with half online. All of these styles can be possible with school choice. I don’t really understand the vitriol. Its better for everyone if everyone is more involved and has a more tailored approach. Even those with special needs, it’s not unreasonable to double the credit. Have them get help. I think there’s plenty of ways to improve this.
  - asoneth 5y ago
    > give every kid $15k/year and be done with it I like the idea in principle, but one challenge I haven't seen addressed is that the cost of educating a student is not uniform. Students on either end of the bell curve with special needs, unstable home situations, no/broken English, exceptional intelligence, ADHD, behavioral issues, etc cost more than average. Therefore, similar to health insurance, every organization is incentivized to attract cheaper-than-average students/patients and expel or discourage the expensive ones. You typically end up with the most expensive participants dumped onto the public schools/plans which results in a death spiral. In my experience, most people love this kind of libertarian approach right up until the moment they find out they're going to be one of the expensive ones, at which point they discover a newfound appreciation for public services.

nradov 5y ago

With school choice and vouchers we expect new schools to open up. We aren't permanently limited to just the schools that already exist in rich and poor districts.

macinjosh 5y ago

> “School choice” isn’t school choice unless I’m free choose to send my kids to the rich district across town or the private school the politicians and elites send their kids to. This is your own partisan definition of school choice. And frankly this attitude is why public schools are so terrible. The current system where people are forced to pay for school through taxes and then are forced to go to a specific public school means the system has ZERO reason or incentive to improve or change because their students are more like prisoners in that they have no choice where to go. In reality school choice creates competition in the education market. If school choice were allowed to exist there would be no bad schools or they would be around for less time because people would vote with their feet and find a school that is worth it. The bad schools would go out of business. This has already been proven to work with public and private charter schools which are hot beds for innovation and great student outcomes. Charter schools where students aren’t served well exist but they go out of business quickly due to students leaving. Would it be perfect? No. Would it be better than what we have, most definitely.