Democrats for Education Reform

Want proof the education reform movement is a non-partisan issue? Just look at the national organization, Democrats for Education Reform. This is a national political action committee, based in new York City "whose mission is to encourage a more productive dialogue within the Democratic Party on the need to fundamentally reform American public education. DFER operates on all levels of government to educate elected officials and support reform-minded candidates for public office."
They have just named Rodney Hubbard, Missouri State Representative (D-58th District, MO), the first Midwest Regional Director. It has been with people like Hubbard, Missouri has seen education reform as a social issue that needs to be corrected in order for children around the state to get the education they need. Hubbard's devotion to the children of St. Louis and the rest of Missouri has been seen. Now the entire Midwest region can hopefully benefit from the passion of Rodney Hubbard.
Hopefully, legislators will listen with their hearts and allow reforms in education to take place.

Dropout Rates Disturbing

When parents think of their child's education, they focus on their children's achievements. A parent would usually know if their son or daughter drops out of school...although that is not always the case. While I think my children do well in school for the most part, I need to be aware of the larger picture. Not only are many of the schools not teaching the children well, the schools are not keeping the kids there.
An article in the St. Louis Post, St. Louis Dropout Rates Skyrockets; Missouri Holds Steady shows me that while some areas are retaining the kids, others are not.

Nearly a fourth of the high school students in St. Louis Public Schools dropped out last school year, according to data to be released by the state today.At 22 percent, it is the single largest spike in city school dropout rates in the last five years, and an 88 percent increase from the prior year.Most area districts reported stable figures this year, or even fewer dropouts, and credited aggressive tactics, including home visits, attendance monitors and even college scholarships. Only the Kansas City district, which estimated its dropout rate at roughly 28 percent, reported numbers worse than St. Louis.

Here is what I see: the schools were not only unaccredited, now they fail to even keep those children in attendance. Now I am sure it is not simply the fault of the schools, but that should be the one angle we can control. We can't control individual parents and children, but we should collectively have an impact on the schools. Why do the public schools spend thousands more per student than the private schools, yet they are failing? Why are there so many people who think we should simply pump more money into the system and that will fix the problem?

We need a change in how the schools and the education system as a whole are run. How many more kids can we afford to have dropout, turn to crime, or live on the streets?

"School Choice is a Social Justice Issue"

Life is filled with many issues that are viewed as simply one sided partisan political issues. School choice is, without a doubt, one issue that needs to be removed from this. Opponents will keep trying to throw their negative spin on it but the school choice movement needs to be stronger than the opponents' negativity.

Several states have passed legislation that allow for a variety of school choice paths. One way to allow for choice is through tax credits. These programs, whether they support special needs children or lower income students, give those children a chance at getting a better education. Howard Fuller, who I have seen speak once, is an incredibly passionate man. He beliefs all children deserve a better education and will stop at nothing to keep the fight strong.

This opinion piece, from the ArizonaStarNet, demonstrates how a tax credit program can effectively help many students. Missouri has tried to get similar legislation passed, but unfortunately, the opponents have spread their negative propaganda and succeeded. The reality needs to seep through their messages...our children are depending on us.

School tax credits deserve more support
Tucson, Arizona Published: 12.02.2008
'School choice is the social-justice issue of the 21st century." The first time I heard these words was not from a politician, but from Howard Fuller, a pioneer in the school-choice movement. Fuller, now a professor at Marquette University, was addressing a small group of educators at Notre Dame this summer.
Fuller contends that school-choice programs enable lower-income students to opt out of poorly performing urban schools and enroll in better performing private schools. It is my experience that Fuller's contention is right on the money, and plays out every day in our Catholic schools.
'School choice is the social-justice issue of the 21st century." The first time I heard these words was not from a politician, but from Howard Fuller, a pioneer in the school-choice movement. Fuller, now a professor at Marquette University, was addressing a small group of educators at Notre Dame this summer.
Fuller contends that school-choice programs enable lower-income students to opt out of poorly performing urban schools and enroll in better performing private schools. It is my experience that Fuller's contention is right on the money, and plays out every day in our Catholic schools.

Shouldn't Children Take Presedence over Unions?

The school choice debate has been further fueled by the presidential race, the strong opposition to choice by president Elect Obama, and the inability to promote real change within the schools. Democrats claim to be strong supporters of public schools and the children they serve. While they may now have more power now to stimulate serious change, they are still servants to the unions. The teacher unions have millions of members, millions of dollars, and strong lobbying means. The Democrats thrive of this group's backing and support. The party serves to support the jobs and the adults running the show, but in doing so, removes the possibility of real change. There are, of course, people within the party, who are willing to show strong support for change; Democrats for Education Reform has been growing and publicly stood up against the unions. Now, we will wait in limbo to see what our new president will do.

The Wall Street Journal's Change Our Public Schools Need lay out what needs to be done within the Democratic party in order for schools to really have change:

Democrats also have to get serious about school choice. The unions oppose it because they don't want one student or one dollar to leave the regular public schools, where their members teach. So the Democrats have been timid and weak in putting choice to productive use -- even though their constituents are the ones trapped in deplorably bad urban schools, whose futures are being ruined, and who are desperate for new educational opportunities.
If children were their sole concern, Democrats would be the champions of school choice. They would help parents put their kids into whatever good schools are out there, including private schools. They would vastly increase the number of charter schools. They would see competition as healthy and necessary for the regular public schools, which should never be allowed to take kids and money for granted.

Public School Improving Because of Choices

The one debate always given by school choice opponents is that school choice will derail the public schools. I have always known that not to be true; but as we all know, some people will never change their minds. Interestingly enough, not every school choice piece is designed in the same manner. While some offer private school as an option, others do not. Additionally, some use private donations to fund the scholarships, as in the case with certain tax credits. Opponents will claim it would help the children who choose to change schools, but not the ones that stay. The argument from choice proponents is that when children have choices, they relocate and get better education, AND the failing schools will have no option but to compete for their students....they would have to improve.
According the the U.S. News, Education Section, the city of Baltimore is experiencing great improvements because of the school choices families are given:

A Turnaround for Baltimore Schools
November 18, 2008 04:15 PM ET Jessica Calefati Permanent Link Print
Enrollment in the Baltimore City Public Schools system has increased for the first time in nearly 40 years at a point when many urban school districts are struggling to compete with the allure of private and suburban schools.
Andres Alonso, the school system's chief executive officer, says Baltimore City has about 82,000 students enrolled this year, 750 students more than last year. Though Alonso will not know the exact number until his estimates are certified by the state a few weeks from now, he says he is certain of an increase, however big or small. He attributes reversing the regular, steady enrollment declines of 2,500 to 3,000 students a year to the growing variety of school choice options available to parents.
Since he arrived in 2007, Alonso has used community outreach as a tool to improve the Baltimore City schools and increase enrollment. He says he has personally attended more than 100 PTA and PTO meetings to seek feedback about the schools from the community. When parents told Alonso they supported independently operated public charter schools, he responded by opening 25 such campuses. When parents indicated they were unhappy with the city's middle and high school options, Alonso opened six new schools.
"We understand that the traditional school setting does not work for many students, which is why this celebratory mood signals so much," Alonso says. "Parents are voting with their feet and showing us they support the changes we've made with their children in mind."
Alonso publicly expressed his excitement about the city's increased public school enrollment by throwing a party at M&T Bank Stadium earlier this fall in celebration of the achievement. The nature of the enrollment declines in Baltimore had been so huge and so consistent that Alonso considers what's happening now a "monumental" success.
"With parents feeling more ownership of the city's schools, they will be more invested in what we have to offer," Alonso says. "That said, I know it's on us to provide attractive options that offer advantages for their children."

Economy Makes Life Even Harder for Some

The downturn in the economy can make any family or individual struggle. People are looking for ways to cut back spending, increase savings, and up their income. Sometimes it works and other times, it does not.
Families with autistic or other special needs' children are also facing hard times...possibly more than other people. Getting treatment and education should not be something added to those stresses, but unfortunately, it is. An article in the SeattlePi portrays the struggles one family is experiencing during this turbulent time. Their 6 year old son suffers from autism and the family has had to cut back on the expensive treatment he was receiving. Notes from his teacher showed multiple orange circles, indicating that their son was repeatedly acting out.
"I feel that Aaron is more affected by this than anyone in the family," Renee Ott said as she sat at her kitchen counter. "Why I cry at night is because of him."
What if...they could send their child to a specialized school instead of the school he currently attends? Perhaps, they wouldn't need all the extra treatments and could get everything in the school. Why shouldn't they have the option to send their child to a school, private or public, that could handle every need of the little boy?
Children from all walks of life, from all cities and states around the U.S. would benefit from programs like these. It would not only save the parents money, but it would also help the schools that are no doubtingly spending thousands on just a handful of children. The children could attend a school that can educate and treat effectively and efficiently.
With special needs children, comes many obstacles, why shouldn't they at least have one thing going smoothly?

Poor Families Deserve Choices Too

In lieu of my normal commentary, I am going to post this article. All children deserve great education, not just the few elite. This comes from Go San Angelo, written by Dan Lips, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
Poor families, not just elite, deserve school choice
Dan Lips Thursday, October 30, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama has joined a growing club of elected officials who oppose school vouchers for poor families while sending their own children to private school.
In the final presidential debate, the Illinois senator criticized Sen. John McCain's plan to award tuition scholarships to low-income families living in Washington, D.C. He was echoing the sentiment he expressed to the American Federation of Teachers this summer: "But what I do oppose is spending public money for private school vouchers. We need to focus on fixing and improving our public schools, not throwing our hands up and walking away from them."
But Obama did walk away from public schools when the time came to enroll his own daughters. After serving on the board of a charity that gave tens of millions to public education, Obama decided that Chicago public schools weren't good enough for his daughters. He enrolled them in the private University of Chicago lab school, where elementary school tuition costs more than $18,000 per year.
No one should begrudge the senator trying to give his children the best education and opportunities possible. Avoiding the struggling Chicago public schools was a sensible decision. Illinois reports that 34 percent of Chicago students are scoring below state standards in reading. A recent independent report estimated that the city's high-school graduation rate was 52 percent.
But Obama should recognize the urgent need to give poor children - not just his own children - the opportunity to attend a private school. He should sympathize with the low-income families who care just as much about their children's future, but lack a senator's salary to send their children to private school.
To get a sense of just how many parents in his own hometown are desperate for school choice, Obama should consider the experience of the Children's Scholarship Fund.
In 1998, this non-profit organization announced that it would award 2,500 private school scholarships to disadvantaged kids in the Windy City. To be eligible, students had to be from families whose annual income was below $22,000 per year. Families also had to commit to a partial co-payment: $1,000, on average. Scholarships would be awarded for a four-year period, putting participating families on the hook for $4,000 in tuition payments.
In all, 59,186 children in Chicago - 26 percent of the eligible population - entered the lottery for scholarships. This means that some of the poorest families in the community were willing to commit $236 million out of their own pockets to get their children into private schools.
Obama is just the latest in a long line of politicians who speak passionately about the need to stay committed to public schools, while abandoning those same schools when it comes to their own families. In the 1990s, President Clinton vetoed legislation that would have given poor families in D.C. scholarships for private school, even though he had sent his daughter to the elite Sidwell Friends School. Vice President Al Gore also aggressively opposed vouchers during the 2000 campaign despite having sent his own children to private schools.
A recent survey of Congress found that 37 percent of representatives and 45 percent of senators had sent at least one child to private school. (Nationally, only about 10 percent of children attend private schools.) Yet many of the same members continue to oppose providing the same options for disadvantaged children.
These elected officials often try to demonstrate their support for improving public education by pledging to spend more tax dollars on more programs aimed at fixing schools. But these promises should be of little comfort to families who have no choice but to enroll their children in bad public schools today. Furthermore, years of rising school budgets have yielded little improvement in the nation's worst school districts.
After all, in Washington, D.C., the government spends $13,000 per student, yet half of its eighth grade students failed a national reading test. As Sen. McCain has proposed, disadvantaged children living in the District should be given the power to use their share of school funding to attend a safer and more effective school of their parents' choice.
Obama and many of his colleagues understand how important school choice is, at least when it comes to their own children. Do disadvantaged children deserve less?
Dan Lips is education analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank.