The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

To those of us who send our children to private school and I do, there is another little secret. Not everyone can get in. Private school is for the relationships that are developed, not necessarily because that particular school is better than public schools in the area. The other dichotomy in this discussion is schools in predominantly black areas were never renovated or maintained as well as schools in predominantly white areas. So if you want to live with your peeps, your children get bused. The whole discussion regarding neighborhood schools especially in North Carolina is a farce.

I’ve watched this issue closely and have noticed that home schooling, private, and charter schools have been “attacked” by the teachers unions. Unfortunately, the unions have supported by the Democrat party for some time now, and have even heavily supported our President during this campaign. It’s no surprise that government has signed to remove funding for the voucher program if it serves to remove the competition against the failings of public school system in the D.C. area.
In the spirit of competition, I hope President Obama does reinstate the voucher program. Maybe, the public school system could take a lesson on HOW to teach rather than soak up taxpayer money and show nothing for it.

I think you have over simplified the issues surrounding vouchers. The vast majority of Americans, regardless of race or political views, are in favor of school choice, particularly if their children have been relegated to poor performing schools. But here are some issues that must be considered:

(1)Conservatives tend to put a Black child’s face on the voucher issue when the true purpose of their political stance is to funnel public money to private and parochial schools for their children. This tactic was also used in the affirmative action debate. Conservatives painted the picture that Black people were getting jobs and college admission based on their race and not their qualifications. White women were the greatest beneficiaries of affirmative action – by far – but that story was seldom told.

Politically conservatives can’t say let us use public money to send our children to private schools, but they can say inner city schools are failing Black and Brown kids, let’s use public money to save them. I get suspicious when conservatives want to be so helpful. Why don’t they support using public money to create mix-income housing in their neighborhoods so Black and Brown children don’t have to attend school in a district with zero tax base? I argue this would help more Black and Brown students attend good schools than the proposed voucher program.

(2)There are not enough private and parochial schools in the United States to meet the needs of millions of Black and Latino students trapped in poor performing schools. Let’s look at Detroit. There are not enough private and parochial schools in Detroit to serve 10% of the district’s 100,000 students – not even 5%. But let’s say there were enough private and parochial schools to meet the needs of 10% of the students – who decides which of the 100,000 gets to attend? Will the private schools take the neediest students in Detroit? No. Will they take students with disabilities under IDEA? No. Will they comply with NCLB for taking federal funding? No.

Why have conservatives never tried to rethink the way public schools are funded in this country? Why have conservatives never tried to fix what’s wrong with the public schools system? Even if vouchers can serve 10% of Black and Brown children in this country (very doubtful), what is to become of the 90% that is left behind in public schools?

-Rodney Trice
http://www.successforblackboys.org

The vast majority of Americans, regardless of race or political views, are in favor of school choice, particularly if their children have been relegated to poor performing schools.

But the vast majority of Americans voted for a President who has voted against vouchers. Secondly, Blacks and Hispanics continuously vote for a party that not only fights against vouchers, but the creation of charter schools.

Conservatives tend to put a Black child’s face on the voucher issue when the true purpose of their political stance is to funnel public money to private and parochial schools for their children.

For some, that actually might be true. But since we do not want to “over simplify” this issue, let’s not forget that there are in fact many families (Black, Hispanic, etc.) who have been denied the opportunity to take part in a school voucher program. When you routinely have parents giving false addresses to a nearby school district so that their child can avoid going to the bad school in their area, choice is needed.

Politically conservatives can’t say let us use public money to send our children to private schools, but they can say inner city schools are failing Black and Brown kids, let’s use public money to save them.

The school voucher program in DC allows parents to claim up to $7k per student to send them to the school of their choice. The D.C. school system in general spends about $14k per student. If a child can get a better education for half the cost, what’s the problem? Besides, Mayor Fenty is on board with school vouchers and the last I checked, he does not consider himself a conservative.

I get suspicious when conservatives want to be so helpful.

You should get suspicious when POLITICIANS want to be helpful.

Why don’t they support using public money to create mix-income housing in their neighborhoods so Black and Brown children don’t have to attend school in a district with zero tax base?

This already happens all across the country. Here in California for example, there are several towns where low income families were brought into middle-class communities in the suburbs. Know what happened? Crime went up and the middle income families moved away. This is a recurring problem that I see with the left. Many of them believe that by putting two folks together from opposite sides of the track that somehow they will learn to live with one another. Those of us who live in the real world know that this is far from the truth. Counties from Northern CA to here in the So have done this and guess where many of those liberals are now? They have relocated to places like Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. That is exactly why two of those states I mentioned went to Democrats this past election.

There are not enough private and parochial schools in the United States to meet the needs of millions of Black and Latino students trapped in poor performing schools.

And judging by the amount of trailers that are being used at many inner city schools across the country, apparently there are not enough public schools either.

Why have conservatives never tried to rethink the way public schools are funded in this country?

They have and continue to do so. The only problem is that if that plan does not include the full support and corporation of teacher unions, it will never make it to first base. Especially when districts who need to have “choice” continue to vote for politicians who are against it.

Even if vouchers can serve 10% of Black and Brown children in this country (very doubtful), what is to become of the 90% that is left behind in public schools?

Any successful enterprise will grow based on need. If failing public schools can get half of that point and still manage to build more schools, I doubt private schools will have that problem.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is already school choice for the few. What people don’t know about the program is that is doesn’t pay for a student to attend a privet school, it simply offers them a grant if they choose too. Considering that the maximum amount given is $7,500, and the cheapest privet High school in DC starts at 10, 000 a year, This program is only a discount for parents who can on their own come up with another 3 grand at least. Other schools in the area range from 15 grand to 30 grand a year. (Sidewell Friends, where Obama’s kids go, is the 30 k school) In addition the program is only offered to students who meet certain academic standards. So this program doesn’t actually allow for the low income students to simply attend any school they want, it provides a few students, who already have involved parents with at least some financial stability to go the the poorest of the privet schools, while leaving the most needy students in a failing system.

If the government has this extra money to spend on DC students it should be going to improve the DC system. (though it will take a lot more then money to fix DCPS). If you want to talk, or written an article, about hypocrisy why don’t you look at how the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program got started in DC anyway. It was test project of the federal government. Back when vouchers was a hot national topic Congress, in which DC has no voting member therefore no choice, decided to use DC as a testing ground for a voucher system. As the issue faded from public site, and voucher systems failed and disappeared else where, DC was forced to keep theirs by the same congress.

I watched all of this happen up close, as a student myself a DC public school, and I can tell you the answer is not to keep “school choice” but to make every school the one you’d choose. Instead fighting for a chance to be one of a handful of kids in a rich white school where the poor and minorities aren’t even wanted, we should be fighting to make our public schools every bit as good as the privet. I had the advantage going to one of the best public school in DC, and in my opinion in the country. I went to School Without Walls, an alternative program created for students who don’t learn traditionally. Wall’s consistently has test scores and a college acceptance rate that rival the Privet schools in the area. My Junior year we had the highest percentage of students score a perfect 5 on the AP Language test nationally. And we offer an experience that engages the city in a way that no privet school does. Walls isn’t perfect, but it, and school like Banneker and Ellingtion should be what we strive to create in all of our public schools. We should have a system that offers variety and support, not one where a few select students get to go to some of the most elite highbrow schools in the country. Because at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade the I got education for anything.

What people don’t know about the program is that is doesn’t pay for a student to attend a privet school, it simply offers them a grant if they choose too.

What people are you talking about–exactly?
On this end, it is already understood that a voucher is simply a grant.

So this program doesn’t actually allow for the low income students to simply attend any school they want, it provides a few students, who already have involved parents with at least some financial stability to go the the poorest of the privet schools

And your problem with this is….what?

If the government has this extra money to spend on DC students it should be going to improve the DC system.

D.C. currently spends $14.4k per student (mind you, the highest in the nation). And your answer is that more is needed?

You know what I think? Someone put you up to writing your comment.

Clues:

#1: You are a student.

I watched all of this happen up close, as a student myself a DC public school,

#2: I hate to do this to you, but your spelling is another dead giveaway and further proof that school choice is needed.

we should be fighting to make our public schools every bit as good as the privet.

#3: “We” who? I thought you were a student?

“And we offer an experience that engages the city in a way that no privet school does.”

Because at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade the I got education for anything.

Please lawd, TRADE IT! TRADE IT!!!!

Was this a writing assignment given to you by one of your teachers?

Just to clarify, I was a student at the time the voucher program was put in place, I am now a senior at New York University with a 3.5 GPA, so my education was just fine thank you. As for my spelling and typos, I posted from my I-phone and didn’t take the time to proof read. Obviously this was not smart on my part, as you are absolutely right that my previous post does not well represent either my education or myself. That said…

The 14.4 k that DC spends on “every” student is actually a very deceptive number. That number is reached by taking the total budget and dividing it by the number of students enrolled in DCPS. It does not take into consideration either the high number of students enrolled in special education nor the exuberant cost of paying for the special education program that is currently employed by the DC school system. (I should know I was in the special education system for most of my time in DCPS) However, the issue of how DC spends its money and what could improve the DCPS system is whole different issue, one I am more then happy to discuss, though I think that this is probably not the arena for that.

I understand why people want choice. I visited Sidwell Friends. I have friends who went to Stoneridge, Gonzaga, and Visitation. Those schools are fantastic, and if someone has the opportunity to go there I don’t begrudge them that. School vouchers, however, are supposed to be a way to help the most needy get a better education. Idea wise it’s great, but in practice you have to look at the bigger picture. Unfortunately in DC the divide between the rich and the poor is tremendous. This means that the privet schools don’t just cost money, they cost a fortune. Even if DCPS gave a student the whole 14.4 thousand it wouldn’t cover any of the schools I mentioned above. As the program works now it doesn’t cater to the students who need it most. If all the energy that is being spent to try to save a small and ineffective program was spent on demanding that the public schools themselves be improved we could actually evoke change. But instead DC, as always, is all about the politics of an issue. If it can look like DC is helping its students, offering what appears to be real “choice,” then everyone gets on the bandwagon, and no one looks to see how the population at large is actually effected. People can disagree with me, I know many do, but the one thing I’ll say that can’t be disagreed with is that I mean every word of it. I am deeply and passionately motivated to help change DC for the better, and especially the school system, and no one has ever had to put me up to that.

However, the issue of how DC spends its money and what could improve the DCPS system is whole different issue

No, actually it is at the heart of this issue. You were placed in special ed for most of your tenure in DCPS, yet you are currently averaging a 3.5 at NYU. Now either the current system actually works or you did not belong in special ed in the first place.

This means that the privet schools don’t just cost money, they cost a fortune. Even if DCPS gave a student the whole 14.4 thousand it wouldn’t cover any of the schools I mentioned above.

Of course it would not cover the schools you mentioned above. They are the most expensive in the area. That is like saying the only choice out there for consumers who are in the market to buy a car is between a Yugo and a Maserati. Cornerstone (for example) cost on average $7k per student per year. And based on their own website, most of their students do receive scholarship money via private donations. I found another private school in the area where the annual tuition is about $4k per year. There are all types of alternatives for parents to school their children outside the public school system. That is why it is disingenuous of folks who are against school choice to frame the debate by using two extremes.

If all the energy that is being spent to try to save a small and ineffective program was spent on demanding that the public schools themselves be improved we could actually evoke change.

I’m going to highlight the findings of this recent Federal study on the DC Opportunity Scholarship program.

Federal study of the D.C. voucher program (.pdf)

#After 3 years, there was a statistically significant positive impact on reading test
scores, but not math test scores.

# The OSP had a positive impact overall on parents’ reports of school satisfaction
and safety

# This same pattern of findings holds when the analysis is conducted to determine
the impact of using a scholarship rather than being offered a scholarship.

#The OSP improved reading achievement for 5 of the 10 subgroups examined

The last point mentions that there was no achievement impacts “… for five other subgroups of students, including those who entered the Program with relative academic disadvantage.” Critics to school choice are only zeroing in on this point alone. But again, there was overall improvement.

I am deeply and passionately motivated to help change DC for the better, and especially the school system, and no one has ever had to put me up to that.

Then you can start by listening to the parents in DC who want choice for their own children.

The problems within DCPS are no different than the problems inner-city school systems face across the nation. So again, considering that DC leads the nation in what it spends on average per student, it should be leading the way on how to do it right.

“The problems within DCPS are no different than the problems inner-city school systems face across the nation “

Are you from DC? If you are I would hope you would recognize how unique a situation the city is in. If you are not then I understand why it may appear that way to you, but in truth DC is not like the average urban city. First and foremost DC does not have a state government to provide any kind of funding or structure to the city government. In addition DC has a very small financial base. The majority of people who make big money in the city live out side of the city. Yet unlike other metropolitans, such as New York, DC isn’t allowed to have a commuter tax, because Congress has vetoed it. The majority of people who live in the city make very little a year, so there is not profit form the income tax. In addition huge amounts of land in DC is owned by the Federal Government or by entities the government has deemed non taxable, so there goes more of the City Governments income. Of cores the rich people who live in DC fall so far to one side of the spectrum, that they have no concern with city issue. They’ll never use one of our public schools, or public libraries, or public hospitals, so the people with power and wealth in DC don’t care about the city itself. And then there is congress, who every now and again decided we the citizens of DC know nothing and are incompetent of running our own city, so they set up their boards to run everything in the city. This happened back when I was in elementary school, and the new “board of education,” appointed by congress, instead of elected by us, well it was headed by General Beckden, a military general who had no background in education. He proceeded to close all of the small schools in the city, even though modern research shows that small = better. (You’ll find all of your beloved privet schools have very low teacher to student ratios.) And as I pointed out before, School Vouchers was and is something that DC citizens have never voted on, it was another executive decision made by Congress. So DC, and the DC school system are nothing like any other urban city.

“Of course it would not cover the schools you mentioned above. They are the most expensive in the area. Cornerstone (for example) cost on average $7k per student per year.”

Cornerstone is an Elementary School, and they generally do run cheaper, but what does that mean when students reach high school? They should go back into the public system? Their parents should come up with more money? Plus, the schools I listed above are not the most expensive in the city. Gonzaga is one of the cheapest of the Catholic schools, and the non-catholic school are much more expensive. Take Edmund Burk, Georgetown Day School, and the Field School, they are all over 30 thousand dollars a year. Which mean that the cheap schools, they range closer to 20 or 25. Oh, and as for elementary schools, you’ll find that many of them can’t afford to remain open on their current tuitions, so they’re either raising their tuitions or turning to charter schools. ( Which is already one way parents in DC have choice as there are a quiet a few charter schools). I’m not the one picking the exceptions to the rules. You run down the list of privet schools in the city and you might find one or two that cost less then 8k, but most run much higher.

And the expensive prep schools are ones they’re selling this idea on. When this was a big national topic they even did a West Wing episode on it. They asked Charlie, the local, poor, black kid now working in the white house, if he had had school choice where would he have wanted to go? He said Gonzaga, because when they’re selling this idea, via TV shows or otherwise, they’re using the names of the well-known schools where Senators’ and Presidents’ kids go. Students know these schools, students know they’re the best, and when kid hears school choice, they don’t think of that no name privet school that just popped up, they’re thinking of the nationally ranked DeMatha (11k a year), or the Washington International School (28k a year), or National Cathedral School (30 k a year) or St. Anselms (20 k a year), or the Maret School (28k a year), or St. Johns (16 k a year) or the Parkmont School (24 K ayear). I could go on and on showing just how expensive the “average” privet high school in DC is, but do I really need to? Oh and by the way, the Washington International School charges 20k a year for Pre-K, so I guess that ones out even for elementary age kids.

“You were placed in special ed for most of your tenure in DCPS, yet you are currently averaging a 3.5 at NYU. Now either the current system actually works or you did not belong in special ed in the first place.”

DC doesn’t have any public Special Education Schools. This means that students are constantly being misdiagnosed or not diagnosed when tested for Special Education so that no one gets labeled as level 4 and 5, which would require them to be placed in a separate special education school. When however a parent, such as my own, believes that their student is in need of greater attention, they have to get their child privately tested and then they sue the city for placement in a privet school. So I attended a privet Special Education School, though still a part of the DCPS system as they paid for it, for four years. Then as some students do I mainstreamed back into a public high school, School Without Walls. My time at the privet school had given me the tools I needed to deal with my disability, and the education I needed to get into one of DC’s exclusive public magnate schools. So yes the system does work for students who’s parents are very involved and pro-active in their children’s education. Of course that means unfortunately that many more students get left behind, but DC doesn’t like to think about that. This system also costs the city a great deal of money, as they spend almost 30k a year on sending these students to privet school, paying for their transportation, paying for their lawyers fees, and paying for privet testing. This is in fact on of the main reasons that DC’s budget is so high, because by law they have to pay for these students. DC has options, they could put the time, effort, and money into creating a public Special Education school they would save hundreds of thousands every year, however, unlike the regular school system, Special Education schools have to meet certain standards by law to be certified, and DCPS doesn’t feel like trying to live up to those standards.

What they’re selling sounds good, and for some individual students it is good. But for the whole DCPS student body the voucher system is no good. Do you really want a system where there is a chance, and only a chance, that your child might qualify to get some finical help to get a good education or do you want a system where every child can get a good education? DCPS doesn’t offer that yet, but if we take the time to change the system, to reinvent the way we teach our kids, and the way we as a community support our kids, then we could have choice for free.

Look I realize I’m not going to change people minds, and I’ll agree to disagree, but I just wanted a chance to tell people out there that this issue shouldn’t be about ideals, or politics, or about anyone outside of DC, this should be about US and our education system, and it shouldn’t lie in the hands of Congress or President Obama, it should be our choice. Perhaps on that we could agree?

First and foremost DC does not have a state government to provide any kind of funding or structure to the city government. In addition DC has a very small financial base.

That does not erase the fact that D.C. has consistently spent more per student than large states like California and Texas (who btw also carry the cost burden of educating millions of illegals). Again, if we are going to suggest here that any negative change in funding will have a negative effect on DC students, then based on money spent for education in DC, that district should be bursting with success. In other words, the opposite must also be true.

So let’s follow your logic here. DC spends roughly $14k per student and to you it would be justifiable to spend more (regardless of the fact that this amount has produced poor results). The voucher program spends less than $7500 per student and to you, it is a futile effort to offer this program because in your estimation private schools in DC are too expensive.

If that is the case, then how are parents who are currently using the program finding private schools to educate their children? The majority of these parents are neither “rich” or “White”.

And as I pointed out before, School Vouchers was and is something that DC citizens have never voted on, it was another executive decision made by Congress.

So the thousand or so parents that showed up in today’s protest in support of the school voucher program don’t count?

Cornerstone is an Elementary School, and they generally do run cheaper, but what does that mean when students reach high school? They should go back into the public system?

The market will respond. I’ll add to that later.

So yes the system does work for students who’s parents are very involved and pro-active in their children’s education.

Okay, so if you are acknowledging that the system works for kids with two parents at home, how then does the system work when two parents are not home? More money? If more money, how does that replace the duties of the missing parent?

This system also costs the city a great deal of money, as they spend almost 30k a year on sending these students to privet school, paying for their transportation, paying for their lawyers fees, and paying for privet testing.

Can you provide the source behind that 30k per student? Second, DC has been on the top of expenditure per student long before this voucher issue. According to this article, the drain is coming from special education students being sent to private schools in accordance to Federal law.

Do you really want a system where there is a chance, and only a chance, that your child might qualify to get some finical help to get a good education or do you want a system where every child can get a good education?

How ’bout this? I want a system where every family has the power to chose where their child can get a decent education and not be forced to send them to an underperforming school. I want a system where taxpayer dollars are not automatically funneled to a school system that has let many families down.

As demand increases, the market will respond. As more families enroll into this program, the private sector will respond by creating more affordable schools. It happens all the time.

this should be about US and our education system, and it shouldn’t lie in the hands of Congress or President Obama, it should be our choice.

Then again, I ask that you would listen to the parents in DC who do not want to see this program go away.