Education at a Crossroads

In just a matter of days — perhaps Monday — a decision will be made in Washington affecting the futures of millions of children in low-income communities, and in the very troubled area of race relations in America.

An opportunity has arisen — belatedly — that may not come again in this generation. That is an opportunity to greatly expand the kinds of schools that have successfully educated, to a high level, inner-city youngsters whom the great bulk of public schools fail to educate to even minimally adequate levels.

What may seem on the surface to be merely a matter of whether the U.S. Senate confirms or rejects the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be head of the U.S. Department of Education involves far bigger stakes.

The teachers’ unions and the education establishment in general know how big those stakes are, and have mounted an all-out smear campaign to prevent her from being confirmed.

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What makes Mrs. DeVos seem so threatening to the teachers’ unions and their political allies?

She has, for more than 20 years, been promoting programs, laws and policies that enable parents to choose which schools their children will attend — whether these are charter schools, voucher schools or parochial schools.

Some of these charter schools — especially those in the chain of the Success Academy schools and the chain of the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools — operate in low-income, minority neighborhoods in the inner-cities, and turn out graduates who can match the educational performances of students in affluent suburbs. What is even more remarkable, these charter schools are often housed in the very same buildings, in the very same ghettoes, where students in the regular public schools fail to learn even the basics in English or math.

You and I may think this is great. But, to the teachers’ unions, such charter schools are a major threat to their members’ jobs — and ultimately to the unions’ power or existence.

If parents have a choice of where to send their children, many of those parents are not likely to send them to failing public schools, when there are alternative schools available that equip those youngsters with an education that can open the way to a far better future for them.

Already there are tens of thousands of children on waiting lists to get into charter schools, just in New York alone. Those waiting lists are a clear threat to teachers’ unions, whose leaders think schools exist to provide guaranteed jobs for their members.

Mrs. DeVos has shown for more than 20 years that she thinks schools exist to educate children. One of the biggest complaints about her is that, unlike Secretaries of Education before her, she does not come out of the government’s education establishment. Considering what a miserable job that establishment has done, especially in inner-city schools, her independence is a plus.

Teachers’ unions have fought for years to prevent charter schools from being created. Now that such schools have been created, and there are now huge waiting lists, the teachers’ unions have gotten politicians to put a numerical cap on the number of such schools, regardless of how large the waiting lists are.

Desperate attempts to smear Betsy DeVos, in order to prevent her from being confirmed as Secretary of Education, have not let the facts get in the way.

She is accused of “steering public dollars away from traditional public schools.” But nobody can steer anything anywhere, when it is individual parents who make the decisions as to where they want their children educated. The money follows the children.

Neither the money nor the children get steered by education bureaucrats, as happens with traditional public schools.

If charter schools educate one-third of the students in a district, and get one-third of the money, how does that reduce the amount of money per child in the public school? Actually, charter schools usually get less money per student, but produce better results.

American education is at a crossroads. If the teachers’ unions and their allies can defeat the nomination of Mrs. DeVos, and the Republicans substitute someone else more acceptable to the education establishment, a historic opportunity will be lost, and may never come again in this generation.

 

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rhs jr
rhs jr

The liberal professional educators destroyed the public system in 1964 and have been making it worse since; it cannot heal itself. Mrs DeVos, the children, the parents and the nation deserve a chance; and I bet she saves taxpayers money to boot.

TampaRed
TampaRed

You keep talking about 1964-what happened then?

rhs jr
rhs jr

I know this subject; saw it with my own eyes from 1945. The Fake History Google feeds people has been washed and rinsed by liberals. I graduated with honors from Robert E Lee HS, attended FSU 1965-69, taught HS Math 1969-70, was Drafted by the Army 1970, left the USAF 1983, returned to college 2 semesters, taught Science at Riverview Academy 2 years…The Civil Rights Act of 1964: prohibited segregation and discrimination based on race in public facilities, including schools but it instituted Reverse Discrimination against White Males. The government mandated Negro teachers be hired over more qualified Whites. Public schools put Negroes into White classes regardless of IQ and required teachers to pass the Negroes. Good teachers and the children of Whites who could afford it, left (White Fight). In 1971, the SCOTUS ordered Busing and White Flight increased. The Cultural Communism and Dumbing Down was Intended and they intend to keep it that way. The liberals have so screwed up the country that it may not be fixable.

Persnickety
Persnickety

My interpretation is somewhat different. I think DeVos is unqualified to head up the “Department of Education” if her purpose is keeping that department alive in some fashion like it has puttered along.

However, if her sole purpose is to dismantle the department, so it can actually be dissolved and stricken as a fedgov agency, then she is probably qualified, and given her hostility to all it stands for, a good choice.

The Dept of Ed has been a negative influence since its creation, so I sincerely hope her purpose is to take it apart and return education to where it belongs, at the state and local level.

musket
musket

Persnickety: You are 1000% correct…..Her job is to reduce the Education Secretariat to zero and have only monitors to represent the administration to the state/local level. Break the hands of CONgress in the education monetary cookie jar.

Anon
Anon

Another example of a Trump nominee making the right people squeal. I love when the libtard strongholds come out so strongly on a decision, nominee or legal action of Trump. It reinforces, to me anyway, that he is on the right track. And the louder they squeal, it means the more cuts and BETTER the action…..

CCRider
CCRider

It’s good to read Dr. Sowell again. I thought he was officially retired from commentary. The bigger problem is that the teacher’s unions get the power to destroy young minds from Democrats who are supported in large measure by the very same people who have to suffer these ersatz schools. Go to where the schools are the worse off and it’s in the black neighborhoods. These are the same people who think whites (who put DeVos in the running) are the reason for their misery and vote for their Democrat slave masters reflexively. I completely agree with Persnickety but hope DeVos is able to help the situation. No one is better off turning out functional illiterates generation in and generation out. But don’t beseech us Dr. Sowell. There’s no one here but us white devils.

Anonymous
Anonymous

If you love your children, you don’t put them in public schools.

No amount of realistic politically induced reform is going to change them enough to make them acceptable.

Philip Arlington
Philip Arlington

You are lucky to be in a position to have so much confidence in such schemes achieving the desirable results. Here in England the people most enthusiastic to run their own tax-funded schools are Muslim activists and of course it is “racist” to object to them doing so. Just today our idiot Speaker of the House of Commons (the world’s most left-wing formerly “Conservative” legislator) was objecting to Trump’s “racist” immigration ban. I don’t suppose it even crossed his mind to consider why none of the 60+ majority black countries are included.

If Muslim immigration to the U.S. isn’t stopped in this generation, America’s future as a non-Muslim country will depend entirely on future birthrates in Muslim countries, because this is the last time there will be any chance of democratic action blocking the potential tide of Muslim immigration. In Europe the last opportunity was decades ago.

Gayle

I know it’s hard to believe, but there are some conscientious public school teachers out there. Part of their fear, I believe, is that the traditional public school will be left with the worst of the worst students, those with major discipline, intelligence, language and cultural issues. All the students with parents who have any awareness will be put in other settings if they are easily available. Some schools would have to reduce staff, but good teachers should have no problem getting jobs in the alternative schools.

The tenure system, which as a teacher I always felt was the worst thing to happen to the occupation, has finally reached the limit of its usefulness.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I don’t think the problem is the teachers, most of them are really interested in the kids and their education (with some obvious exceptions).

It the schools and their policies and what they require of the teachers (to teach) and how they are required to deal with the students that is the problem.

TampaRed
TampaRed

You guys are so dead on.If you only heard the insane comments said to my wife & her fellow teachers by administrators ,the cursing they take from students,and the crap they take from parents,you would change your tune.
As a libertarian I believe that we should shut down public ed & let parents obtain their kid’s education on their own.
However,the Republicans do not want to do that-they only want to throw $ to their buddies who run private & charter schools.

Anon
Anon

Correct – Like any other industry that is left to the free market instead of union control. The cream rises to the top. I know of 2 very well educated and caring teachers that were forced out of the public school system because they questioned the liberal orthodox, and it’s rhetoric of “its for the children” when they saw no real evidence that ANY of the programs were for the children. At first they were angry, then they got real jobs in higher paying private schools. Now it is a few years later, and they are so glad they made the move. They look upon their public school days as time wasted, and wish they could have brought as many kids with them. At least there are two teachers I can say first hand would fully support a full dismantling of the present “system”.

M1aMark
M1aMark

Remember, We have the greatest education system in the world.
We taught Latin and Greek in High School during the 1950’s.
Today, We are teaching remedial English and Mathematics in Freshman year of college.
Betsy DeVos – OK, I’m in.

CCRider
CCRider

“In one hundred years we went from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to remedial English in college”
Joseph Sobran

James the Wanderer

Carter paid off the teacher’s unions by creating the DOEd back in the 70’s. Since then, the evidence shows that less is taught, less is learned and the overall trend is still negative. Trump has every reason to de-legitimize, de-fund and de-commission the entire useless edifice that the DOEd has shown itself to be.
While he is at it, he can de-commission the DOEnergy for mostly the same reasons. If we EVER achieve energy independence, it will be because the Bakken and similar innovations have made it possible, not because of any government department, program or regulation.

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