tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post3281729173801057870..comments2024-03-18T13:27:42.621-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Nobody Really Wants ChoicePeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-27830469258076788872015-09-09T00:24:04.175-04:002015-09-09T00:24:04.175-04:00The cost of choice largely depends on the size of ...The cost of choice largely depends on the size of the district. In NYC public, with 1.1 million students, it seems likely that there will be enough students interested in boutique educational environments that there will be little added cost compared to a uniform. I would be surprised if there were not more students in NYC public interested in a Waldorf school than there are students in my local school district, one of the largest in my state.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-31452391341241398402015-09-08T12:38:46.579-04:002015-09-08T12:38:46.579-04:00People do seem to have trouble recognizing the cos...People do seem to have trouble recognizing the costs associated with choice. <br /><br />To start with, they need to understand that "choice" is merely a means to an end--a good school. <br /><br />Are there multiple-views of what a "good school" looks like? Perhaps, though what drives most discussion of school choice are schools that are severely underfunded and populated by kids living in poverty. People want schools free of the impacts of poverty. Not choice.<br /><br />Beyond that, yes, there's probably a marginal fraction of people who have strong interests in boutique educational environments. But then the question is, should the public education sector become a patchwork of such boutiques? Is the public in public education able and willing to provide an array of costly and specialized educational environments, especially when the cost includes the loss of public oversight of those schools (e.g., charters)? <br /><br />The cost of choice are extremely high. The advantages are unavailable to most kids, if they are available to anyone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04481787052738876421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-68933405183891186712015-09-08T12:25:49.179-04:002015-09-08T12:25:49.179-04:00This post is spot on. I've said it for years:...This post is spot on. I've said it for years: "We don't need school choice for some, we need choice schools for everyone."<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04481787052738876421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-67237912108514508522015-09-07T12:02:53.842-04:002015-09-07T12:02:53.842-04:00If you are saying that only families assigned to a...If you are saying that only families assigned to attend bad schools want to choice, I think that's right. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-79542466867028746922015-09-07T11:15:21.507-04:002015-09-07T11:15:21.507-04:00They did not want a choice. They wanted a good sch...They did not want a choice. They wanted a good school. Peter Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-535306979206730572015-09-07T10:57:43.551-04:002015-09-07T10:57:43.551-04:00Because their district was being starved.
You alw...Because their district was being starved.<br /><br />You always miss the main point. Here it is for you to re-read:<br /><br />"Why do lots of parents in poor, neglected school districts like the idea of choice? It's not because they love the idea of choices. It's because their local menu offers the prospect of a terrible meal. They want more choices because they are hoping that one of those choices, finally, will be an excellent education for their children."<br /><br />"But focusing on choice instead of school quality leads to focusing on the wrong thing, sometimes to the detriment of the real goal. Providing choice on a thin budget makes excellence that much harder to achieve. And it completely blinds us to the reformy option that charter/choice fans never want to talk about:<br /><br />What would happen if we took all the time and energy and money poured into pushing charter/choice and focused it on turning the local schools into schools of excellence."<br /><br />"[T]he discussion will be much more useful and productive if we focus on the real goal and not get distracted by mistaking means for an end."Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-33125573698964029972015-09-07T10:30:26.609-04:002015-09-07T10:30:26.609-04:00When families in the Normandy school district were...When families in the Normandy school district were given the option of keeping their students in their neighborhood schools or bussing them nearly thirty miles to a school district in a neighboring county, a quarter of all the students in the district left. It seems to me that these families wanted choice because.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-79102882626870525832015-09-07T08:22:50.194-04:002015-09-07T08:22:50.194-04:00Plus small enough class sizes to be able to devote...Plus small enough class sizes to be able to devote enough individualized attention to each student.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-51436190292708265182015-09-07T08:19:09.351-04:002015-09-07T08:19:09.351-04:00You have an amazing ability to make the seemingly ...You have an amazing ability to make the seemingly absurd perfectly obvious. I read the title and thought, you gotta be kidding me. I finished the piece thinking, well, of course. Just goes to show how deeply engrained our assumptions are - we don't even think about things like this until someone points out how naked the emperor is. Thanks.Diennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04570040547158789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-16309565064328950522015-09-07T05:15:36.370-04:002015-09-07T05:15:36.370-04:00Again you've made a slight change in perspecti...Again you've made a slight change in perspective and focus and the fuzzy picture becomes clear: "choice" is a means, not the goal, and is it the only or the most effective? Sort of the same way standardized testing and other metrics are tools but not the goal and not a solution to anything.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-39685117285381341382015-09-06T20:07:53.459-04:002015-09-06T20:07:53.459-04:00I don't know. I think most people could agree ...I don't know. I think most people could agree on: a nice facility, caring teachers skilled in their craft, sufficient specialized resources, a well-rounded, rich and varied curriculum, and an administration responsive to any concerns parents might have. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-66547998535755609442015-09-06T18:54:40.107-04:002015-09-06T18:54:40.107-04:00Problem is, "great schools" is not the s...Problem is, "great schools" is not the same thing to all people. Courtney Ostaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327281665395277255noreply@blogger.com