Driven toward vouchers

Put him down as another convert. Mark Howard, executive editor of Florida Trend magazine (which is owned by the St. Petersburg Times), says he wasn't always a fan of vouchers. But Howard writes in this column that he has been pushed "steadily, if reluctantly, toward the choice camp" by what he has learned about public schools, including through his own kids' experiences:

"Perhaps the strongest argument for more choice in public education is the degree to which the public schools already have introduced elements of choice -– International Baccalaureate programs, magnet schools, 'fundamental' schools, alternative schools and charter schools. My daughter has thrived in an International Baccalaureate program that I would choose over any private education I could purchase in Pinellas County. To a large degree, market pressure –- the threat that large numbers of middle-class and other parents would abandon the system –- led to those innovations."

Howard also writes: "If a privately operated public charter school wastes money or is ineffective, it has to do better or it closes. The same, however, is never true of the publicly operated school around the corner. And so blindingly incompetent teachers at my son's middle school can teach pretty much what they choose, once tenured, with impunity."

Ron Matus, state education reporter

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Comments

4:45- A school can not fail a child without the parent's help. If a child is in need of help, there are several people responsible to make it happen.

Parents have to stand by and let the school "damage" their child and likewise, a "school"...which is actually comprised of living, breathing human beings, many may be your neighbors...has to stand by and watch a parent fail their child.

Neither is acceptable.

NEVER is their just one single person to point to! NEVER! You can't even point to an institution without looking in the mirror.

Public schools are not businesses. It's not about whether or not you can pack up your kids and take them somewhere else.

It's about working together to support the foundation of our Democray-an educated constituency. We ensure the future of Democracy by ensuring a strong, vibrant educational system.

The teacher's "union" can NOT keep an incompentent teacher from being fired. Apathy can.

If a parent is unhappy with the teacher-and has some specific grounds for a complaint, then they should file a complaint.

Is there a "process?" Yes, of course. The process ensures the rights of everyone involved are protected: student, teacher and parent.

We have ground rules in our country-the Constitution, the court system, our laws...you either think those are pretty good things and you respect them or you don't.

They usually call people who believe in their country, its laws and its Constitution PATRIOTS. That's why I'm confused here. The Republicans want to be called patriots, but they have no respect for our Constitution, our laws or the decisions of our courts.

REAL "PATRIOTS" believe in things like seperation of church and state, individual rights, the necessity of a free and appropriate education for ALL and keeping our word.

This whole, "I'm in it for me," Republican crap is wearing thin. It didn't work out in the 80s, the late 90s really took its toll and now more than ever-WE...you know the real patriots...WE can not afford any more of this me, me, me, me CRAP!

Got a problem with your kids teacher? Go to them. Speak to them like they're a real person. Assume they want the best for your kid, just like you. Do we really have highly successful parents that are too chicken to walk in to a school and talk to the teacher?

So afraid to seek a person-to-person resolution that the "easier" answer is to violate the Constitution, dismantle the public education system and leave all the kids whose parents don't have the means and/or ability to "take advantage" of vouchers to fend for themselves?

FIRED? Is that the ONLY resolution to a problem? If you can't just walk into a school and have a teacher dragged from a classroom and fired on the spot, it's just not worth addressing the problem.

Bullcrap.

These are excuses. I don't accept them from my teenagers and I certainly won't accept them from adults. "I tried." Really? What did you "try?" Let's talk about what action you took to control the situatin or solve the problem...

There is no try, only do. -Yoda

The real answer-I didn't feel like it. It wasn't worth my time or energy.

"Our public school system is not worth the time, energy and trouble." That's what you're really saying.

11:39 -- Amen brother (or sister)!

12:07 & 4:53 -- it is till is isn't, whether you like it or not!

Or, to quote W: "Is our children learning?"

12:07pm,

Actually, under the ridiculous Bush v. Holmes decision, charters are unconstitutional, as are virtual schools, magnets, and other good forms of innovation. They are so simply because they are not "uniform" as described in that non-sensical opinion. Anyone who reads that opinion and applies its reasoning (if it can be called that) can easily come to that conclusion. Think that's not a risk? Look to Ohio, where the unions sued to outlaw charter based on an almost identical "uniformity" provision in that state's constitution. Had one judge on the Ohio Supreme Court changed her mind, charters would now be illegal in that state.

Are you here to argue against parental choice on the merits, or to simply hide behind a decision that was widely derided by the legal community as openly partisan, inconsistent and at times even factually incorrect in its citings?

11:39,

So if a school fails a child, this is what a parent is supposed to do:

1) Go to the school and seek "resolution" with the teacher. I'm not even sure what that means. The teacher can't be fired due to union rules, so what "resolution" is available to the parent?

2)"Go to the principal". And demand what exactly? That the teacher be fired? Sorry, he can't do that, see #1 above.

3) "March down to the district office to lodge a formal complaint and do something about the problem". Um, and what will the district office do about the problem? Fire the teacher? See #1 above.

Why should it be so hard--or actually impossible--for that parent to be able to do something about the situation? It's not that way in the real world. If a customer is dissatisfied with the service they get from any business, they take that business elsewhere.

Of course parents with enough money already do that with education. They either move a neighborhood with a school they like, or they pay for tuition at a private school. It's just those who don't have the money to make such a choice who lose. These parents would gladly take half the money taxpayers spend on K-12 and spend it at the school of their choice.

First, the question that should be asked of Mr. Howard is, "Are these programs legal (Constitutional)?" As a thinking man, he should be able to determine that charters are not illegal except that the FSE is clearly afoul of Constitutional authority. Similarly, he should be able to see, especially with the Bush v. Holmes ruling to guide him, that each of the voucher programs is illegal. So, if a good citizen supports "choice" or "vouchers" they should be asking for a constitutional amendment instead of asking the Legislature to expand illegal programs.

Howard writes: "And so blindingly incompetent teachers at my son's middle school can teach pretty much what they choose, once tenured, with impunity."

Really? So I can go down to the district office and request the complaints Howard lodged against the "blindingly incompetent" teachers at his child's middle school, right?

Because, Howard didn't just sit by and allow it to happen right? As a parent, Howard marched into the school and sat down with that teacher seeking resolution, right? And when that didn't work, Howard went to the principal, right? And when that didn't work, Howard marched down to the district office to lodge a formal complaint and do something about the problem because Howard has the means and the knowledge about how schools operate and Howard, I'm sure wouldn't shy away from his parental duties, right?

Nice try.

Take pot shots at public education from an ivory tower and do nothing in your power to put an end to blinding incompetence.

Take a look at your hand, Howard. You've got one finger pointing at a blindingly incompetent teacher and THREE pointing right back at YOU!

We have seen the problem-it is US!