Progressives causing the problems they lament... Warren Meyer of CoyoteBlog has an interesting idea – that the public school (near-)monopoly is the reason why we have fewer middle-class neighborhoods these days. When he lays out his theory, though, it seems that there are at least two drivers:
1. The difficulty in educating kids by any means other than public schools (because either it's very expensive for a private school, or it's tremendously time-consuming to home-school).
2. The property tax funding mechanism for public schools in most states, that drives people with children to move to neighborhoods with good schools (generally ritzier and more expensive).
The combination provides a powerful set of incentives for people with kids to move to upscale neighborhoods, which then get even more upscale. I've seen this at work amongst people I know in San Diego; the quality of the schools is most definitely a major factor in their selection of a home location, and many of them struggle mightily to afford living there.
It's an argument for two things: getting rid of the public school monopoly (which would mean much more than just charter schools or vouchers, though both are a start), and democratizing the public school funding mechanism, so that good schools don't only occur in wealthier neighborhoods.
On the other hand, I suspect it would be even more effective to outlaw teacher's unions, reduce the public school bureaucracy by 80% or so, and pay teachers according to their performance instead of their time on the job.
I can dream, can't I?
Hi Tom. I know you don't have to worry about children, but home-schooling has worked very well for most parents in all circumstances. See http://www.hslda.org/. Studies generally find that homeschoolers of all backgrounds score in the 80th percentile on average in all subjects. Our own (8) kids have done well that way, with two merit scholars, and an average standardized test score of around 98th percentile (one with an SAT of 2390 out of 2400). Much better than that, they get taught real life, instead of welfare state life.
ReplyDeleteEight kids! I cannot even imagine :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a very big fan of homeschooling, and in fact I've done some teaching for local homeschoolers (math and programming). But I recognize that it will always be a relatively small part of the overall education solution, because there are so few people that are willing to do it, have the financial wherewithal to do it, and have the capability to do it. Regrettable as that may be, I'm afraid it's the reality we've been dealt...