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Katrina Currie posted on 6/30/2011 2:08:00 PM
David,
School choice isn’t a panacea but our kids can’t afford to spend another school day trapped in the current status quo. The bottom 5% of failing schools includes a lot more areas than Philly, including Lancaster, Allentown, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Reading. If you select the “More Info” tab, I’ve included a link under the video that takes you to the list of failing schools.
CF has analyzed state-funded vouchers impacts on public schools. The unions claim that fixed costs are as high as 60% of spending (we found it closer to 36% but let’s use the higher number). For example, if we look at spending in the Harrisburg School District, which spends more than $17,000 per student, this would mean that a class of 22 kids has a fixed cost of $234,000. This suggests that this classroom of 22 kids could lose as many 17 students and STILL cover its fixed costs.
Nine of the 10 "gold standard" evaluations of voucher programs reported statistically significant gains in achievement for all or some voucher recipients. And students who remain in public schools also benefit from school choice. There’s no evidence to support the claim that school choice hurts students that remain in public schools or that private schools will turn away voucher students. We’ve seen great success with PA’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit and there has been no evidence of widespread cases of families being refused admittance.
Also, we are working to get mandate relief for public schools. You can info on this here: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/doclib/20110422_EdMandates.pdf
David posted on 6/28/2011 9:33:00 PM
Nathan, Has there been any studies to show how many students would leave a failing school if vouchers were available? How many students would have to leave a school before it is forced to close its doors? Is there a list of the failing schools available to the public?
My wife and I were the kind of parents that were very involved in our kids education, we attended all the meetings with the teachers, went to every activity for our kids and (gasp) went to lots of school board meetings. From that experience I remember the agony of the board trying to pass a budget every year not knowing what the funding level would be from the state or federal government. And I also remember the number of unfunded mandates that caused them great pain. In my humble opinion and with my, albeit limited personal experience I would like to see pressure put on the state to find an alternative way to fund our schools, do away with most, if not all of the unfunded mandates and consider radical change to our education system. I can't see how any of our schools will succeed under the current system and only see a drain of resources if the voucher system is passed. I don't have confidence that private schools will follow all the state mandates, don't see them accepting the influx of troubled students and the math just does not add up to me. Taking money, any money out of a school system will cause that school to lose even more ground. And if this is not a bail out of the Philly school system why are most of the stats about failing, violent schools coming out of Philadelphia?
Nathan Benefield posted on 6/28/2011 6:02:00 PM
David,
The "cost" is zero - this is funding the state is already providing to students in failing school, which would follow the students to their school of choice. Students would take the state share (about $5000 on average in the state), whereas the school districts would keep the local share (about $9000 per pupil on average).
It is certainly not a bailout of the Philadelphia schools, as it isn't giving any more money to Philadelphia schools, but allowing students to leave those schools and take their state money with them.
Transportation would be the same as under current law - districts are responsible for transporting students to any school with 10 miles of their boundary, if they provide transportation (they are not required to provide transportation, though I think every district does). Anything beyond that radius is the responsible of the parents. Since districts are already providing transportation to these schools, it would not be much if any additional cost—just fuller buses.
David posted on 6/27/2011 8:14:00 PM
While I see some benefit to being able to choose the school your children attend I also have reservations about the funding. "An additional $50 million for school vouchers", where will that come from? I have not seen the solution for transportation to the school of choice. Current regulations have the "home school district" providing the needed transportation and I ask who will fund that? My final point is to me this sounds like another plan to bale out the Philadelphia schools since 4 of the top 5 violent schools are inner city Philly. How will school choice and its costs affect the families and taxpayers in school districts that do not have the same issues.
jones posted on 6/21/2011 1:25:00 AM
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light ? Even a little can help.
Retired Teacher posted on 6/18/2011 8:09:00 AM
If there's this kind....
Sorry
Retired Teacher posted on 6/18/2011 8:07:00 AM
If there's this king of violence in the public schools in the inner cities, what makes anyone think that it wont extend to charter schools that these same kids attend?
Plus, these kids that are most prone to violent behavior won't be accepted to any charter school--- that leaves them grouped together in the public schools.
If you're truly concerned with these kids, what is your solution, other than the current one of removing personnel and resources from these very schools? Think that the problem will get better or worse with less staff and money?
I know you blame the schools for this problem now, who you going to blame after the best students leave?
My take on this is that with the newer reporting laws and the safe schools act, admin is very slow and loathe to call authorities after a violent episode, as schools' AYP is affected. I bet the real problem is a lot worse than the numbers reported here.
Nathan Benefield posted on 6/16/2011 12:33:00 PM
Really?
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/research/cf/fl/page.1/56/school-choice
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/cf/fl/page.1/56/school-choice
Dan posted on 6/16/2011 12:26:00 PM
Okay, you've done a great job exposing the problem, but it is not immediately evident what I can or should do about it in any article that I have seen on your web-site.
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