Judicial Supremacists Lash Out At Parents
The Ninth Circuit decision stated that "there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children" and that "parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed."
Read the column and then do a search for private schools in your area.
14 comments:
The good news is: it's another 9th US Circus opinion. The most overturned court in the USA, and with good reason.
The bad news is: having already decided to enroll my daughter in private school, I get to pay TWICE!
Daniel,
Activist kazan in 5...4...3...2...
Have you visited Kaza's site? He's an interesting character.
Jay, at some point we will have vouchers. Not today or tommorow though.
Daniel,
When/If we ever get a voucher system, it will/should be declared unconstitutional. It will be no different than being "separate but equal", and the Brown v. Board of Ed of Topeka case. The only difference this time is that it will be based on economics, not race. Unfortunately, vouchers will never stand.
The schools are already seperated by ridiculous district lines. The voucher system would at worst make those lines voluntary. At best it would make education competitive and force teachers to do their jobs instead of strongarming taxpayers.
Actually, the 9th Circuit got this one right. I've written about it on my blog at http://robkremer.blogspot.com
Tony, in a perfect world where all parents gave a rip about their kids education and were willing to drive their kids across town or out of town to a better school, your analogy would be a perfect fit.
You say that minorities are "shuffled" into inner city schools? Tell me something, where do most of the minorities in Salem live? (I see that you're from Salem) Are minorities being shuffled from South Salem up to North Salem High? Are minorities being shuffled from West Salem to North HS? No, for the most part. Those minorities that are being shuffled are, let's say from South Salem (Sprague district) to South Salem HS are ESL kids. Why? Because Sprague doesn't have an ESL program. McKay and North have ESL programs. Why? Because that's where the minorities live! They mostly live downtown and in Northeast Salem. A minority mom who's struggling to pay bills is not going to give a hoot about the voucher in her hand to send her kid across town. How's she going to get her kid there? Send him on the city bus? No private schools in town? How is she going to get her kid to a private school out of town? They will send their kid to the neighborhood school, just like they've always done. For examples of this, look at the middle schools in Salem that have not met AYP for the last couple years. Have the parents pulled their kids out and sent them across town to "better" schools? By and large, no.
From my experience, under performing kids are usually under performing for one reason - lack of parental support.
You note the cost of private schools. Yes, they are cheaper. Don't take your special ed kid their though, they don't have a program for your kid. I have a student right now who's parents pulled him out of a certain private school in NE Salem because they did not want to deal with his learning disabilities. I'll tell you what? Public schools don't have a choice.
By the way, those teachers at the private school might not be "highly qualified". Make sure you check it out. Does a good kid, from a good family, with enough money get a good education from a private school? Sure he does. But that kid will get a good education at a public school as well.
I could go on and on, but I don't want to monopolize Daniel's blog here!
Tony, by the way, don't confuse me the OEA...eve...again! I'm a union member because of the legal protections it offers. I'm a white, hetero, male...I'm going to get sued someday, and the union has a lot of coverage for the dues I pay. That's why I'm a union member, and that's the only reason I'm a union member.
Don, I fail to understand how vouchers seperate people based on economics. They actually give more equality as everyone will have the same schooling options.
The book Voucher Wars, by Clint Bolick chronicles the legal battle over school choice from the view of a premier lawyer who argued the cases in court.
I would recommend it.
Don, I posted my comment without seeing your response. While I agree that the best way for kids to have a successful school experience is for their parents to be involved I still don't see how that's an argument against vouchers.
It's certainly not a legal argument against vouchers.
As for improving the percentage of good parents... I wish that we could go back to the 1950's! Liberal policies encourage bad parenting and a de-emphasis on traditional family values is making your job harder.
By the way, thanks for the work you do. I hope that you don't end up drinking the cool-aid over the years.
The Fifties! Oh how I wish I could've lived through the 50s! I'm teaching my kids a unit on the 1950s right now, and while I talk about it with a dreamy expression, my kids just complain about how boring "Leave it to Beaver" is. Alas, I was born just 40 years late.
Here's my thing. I'm not against vouchers. I think school choice (if all other factors are equal) is a fantastic idea. Here are SOME of the problems I see though:
1) Let's say everyone in town wants to go to the "good school" up on the hill, leaving the inner city school. What happens when the school is at capacity? Who get's in? Who doesn't? A lottery system? First come, first serve? Is that "fair"?
2) How do the "special" kids fit into the voucher system? If the good schools don't offer a special ed program, does that mean we end up with schools that only have kids "riding the short bus?" Is that "fair"?
3) As most private schools are religion-based, does a voucher program begin us on a path of government subsidized religion (which is prohibited in the Constitution, right?)? Yes TONY, that's an NEA talking point, get off my back. It's still a valid question. Which religious schools get more government money? The schools with the most kids?
4) If vouchers are in place, parents will pull their kids out of bad schools and put them in good schools, right? What happens to the kids who are left at the bad schools (since they can't ALL go to the good schools)? This is where I see the "separate but unequal" deal happening. The bad schools will simply be stuck with little to no funding (because so many kids have left) and the ones that have stayed will most likely be from a lower socioeconomic background. Why? Because any self-respecting affluent parent will have pulled their kid out and paid the tuition for a private school already.
Ok, obviously I'm throwing out extreme cases, but those are all valid lawsuits just waiting to happen. I think a voucher system will open up a huge can of worms that won't solve much.
In the United States we have made a commitment to a public education for EVERYONE. Right now, I believe our current public education system (even with its plethra of problems) is the "most fair" system. If we all starting pulling money out of the system, the system will crash. I don't believe vouchers are the right path, right now.
The district lines in Oregon City were redrawn so that all low-income areas were assigned to one school. The school was basically forcefully turned into a Title 1 school. It didn't have to be. Each of the surrounding schools (not a mile away) don't have Title 1 programs. Why? Because they don't have those student needs. Why? Because the students are being shipped to another school. This is the same all across the country.
It's the same basic chicken/egg argument for ESL students go to the ESL school...which is the ESL school because the ESL students keep getting shipped there. When it all comes down to it, the district lines are drawn around money. They make a few crappy schools that are total Title 1 and ESL and special needs schools, then they have the newest and best schools for the rich kids. Where is all the money given? The Title 1 schools. Why don't they have the newest and best? I think you can guess where it's going.
In many of these places, the students get shipped across town just so they can go to that school, because of the ridiculous district lines madating them to go there. Selective hearing...that's what this is about.
Again...it all comes down to money. For the schools, the teachers...etc.
I will agree with you, if more parents were involved with students' educations, they would probably do much better. I think it's too often used as an excuse for teachers for poor performance, though. Sometimes, it's just bad teaching.
Tony,
Two questions:
1) What are the current problems in public schools that would be fixed by sending all the kids to private schools?
2) By sending all the same kids with the same problems to a private school, and giving the $10k to private schools rather than public schools, aren't you just transfering the problems from one place to another?
My knee-jerk reaction to the system you've proposed is that basically you just want schools with less government regulations. I guarranty you that 90% of all the ridiculous things that schools have to do these days are because of new government regulations, laws, and mandates. You want to get rid of 'em? I'm all for it! But then you public schools that are "just teaching". What a pity, ehh? :)
Speaking of "cans of worms", Daniel...what have you opened up here? :)
Healthy debate! There's nothing like it. Good thing the Dems don't hang out on this blog, we'd all have been called Nazi racists by now!
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