This blog is in response to this clip:
---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryJT7Z-bsg8
As a teacher, people love to show me controversial videos surrounding the topic of education (especially pubic education).
My father who's very fond of the idea of vouchers, and sending all students to private and charter schools, was thrilled to show me this video, and claimed it "proved" private schools are more effective than public schools.
I thought it was very interesting that we could watch the same video and come to such different conclusions. As an educator, it's important for us to be aware that many are not familiar with the common challenges we face daily.
There are a couple of concerns I had with this clip.
1) It assumes that the woman could not have become successful staying at her public school. O'Rilley references two cases where private schools perform better than public schools. Because his guess did not know he would be using that argument, seemed unprepared. O'Rilley even accuses him of ignoring facts. When you research the effectiveness of vouchers, however, there are MANY more cases where the vouchers where ineffective or barely effective.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/843861
https://www.brookings.edu/research/on-negative-effects-of-vouchers/
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/education/school-vouchers-choice-student-achievement
http://www.nea.org/home/16970.htm
In fact, it took me some digging to find an article that references any success seen with school vouchers. This made me uncomfortable. I know anyone who found the statistics used in this interview had to intentionally ignore and the majority of articles in effort to prove a point instead of trying to get an accurate picture of the state of education. The way his facts were presented was very misleading, to force the idea that it is a fact that private schools are better.
2) It doesn't account for any variables. I would have liked to hear more about the environment she was in with her grandparents in contrast to her experience with her negligent parents. This has much more of an effect on students than even a teacher could. Many students also go through a phase where they are rebellious.
3) He undermines the success and experiences of his guest. He brushed off the statement that his guest made about also being the first to go to college and attending a public school. I didn't understand why his experience was less relevant than hers as they were both anecdotal.
4) Credit is misplaced, perpetuating imbalances accountability. No one seems to mention the fact that private schools get to choose which students are qualified to attend. In addition to choosing successful students, private schools can mandate parental involvement. I was offered a position at a private school before I found my first teaching job. The school would have had no behavior problems, I would have a tremendous amount of freedom to plan whatever lessons I wanted, I could plan the field trips, have an ideal class size, and communicate with parents who were very helpful, grateful, and generous. This came with a cost. First, I would be paid a lot less (over $10,000 less then the position I was offered in a public school). I also felt like I would be interchangeable, and helping students who didn't really need help. I believe public and private teachers would agree that the teachers in private schools have no interest in dealing with the issues that come with teaching inner city children. In contrast, the veteran teacher across the hall from me sees impressive amounts of growth in his students every year without no willingness from students or support from parents.
Private school teachers have the luxury of buying into the theory "you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". In the public sector, parents, communities, and society as a whole expects unwilling parents and students to be dragged to success and have their faces shoved in it.
Can we vote to give parents or students any accountability?
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