Quoting Mati Palm-Leis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > There has been a lot of discussion about which systems of > government/business best serves the people as collective whole. Being in > the business of education for over 15 years there is a basic factor in the > success of any system, its people and leadership. The greater quality of > individuals (both intellectually and socially) in that system, the greater > quality of service that system gives. Public school overall do an incredible > job as it is.
Unfortunately U.S. public schools do not rank well compared to the rest of the industrialized world. See the 2006 OECD report at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/35/37376068.pdf > One issue I would like to illuminate is an experience I shared with my late > father. My father was an old time conservative and at one time hailed the > virtues of the private sector in the world of education and especially the > voucher system that being experimented in the state of Wisconsin. Trusting > my experiences and thoughts he inquired my opinion on the matter. The fact > is I have only one issue with the voucher system, quite simply if the > private schools live by the rule we in the publics system live by, then I am > all game. Example if a private school had 10 openings and there were 100 > hundred interested families/students then have a random drawing to which 10 > get in. If they have multiple special needs, tough you have to educated > them... welcome to my world. Oh yeah you will need to include these > students in averaging of school test school scores,..... again welcome to my > world. Oh yeah there are special rules by which we live by in which you > can't just give up on a kid and kick them out at will if they are too > difficult to handle. If private school had to live by those standards they > would themselves likely reject any voucher system because they can't deal > with it. In the past, "difficult to handle" kids were sent to reform school. As for "special needs" children, it depends on the meaning of "special needs." If a child is incapable of learning, it seems unfair to put them in a class with normal kids. In other words, there are other solutions to the problems you present. It seems to me the "rules" need changing. For example, how do other countries address these problems? > [Platt]previously: > >From a broader perspective, private schools offer a number of > >educational > advantages, described on the Private School Review website. Listed > advantages are: > > A higher bar > Student teacher ratio > Potentially more funds > A push toward college > Community service and sense of values > Discipline and safety > > Platt list of advantages are interesting but suggest that all student are > college bound. Public schools must mirror the needs of society as a whole as > it has done for the past 200 years. Yes we need to educate students to the > highest level of education possible in a 13 year period. We in public > schools as a whole recognize the responsibility of setting the "bar higher" > giving our children the best possible chance. But more importantly there > must be a collective focus by both community, parents and student achieve > this. I have met so many parents over the years that work hours on end with > their children and the schools to make a real difference in their child's > life and education. Schools I believe are a real reflection of community > they exist in. Once I was flying back from Washington DC and I met a father > who just got a major job promotion to move to Annapolis. He asked me if > there was some book or reference material to help him decide which community > would have the best quality schools. I suggested that is not the way to do > it. I told him to take a day or two and go visit the school in various > communities. Take a tour and met the teachers and administration and ask > them why their school is the school for their kids. You can really quick get > a sense of which school are student centered and good for kids. Needless to > say this father was sobered by the fact that he would have to take "the > time" to do this if he wanted to do it right. Dr. Howard Fuller, former > Superintendent of Milwaukee schools was interview and asked what are > (public) schools doing right? He replied,"Those schools that work for kids > all have very similar characteristics. They are child centered. They usually > have a clear vision of what it is that they want to do with kids. They have > created an environment where learning is the focus. They have high standards > for kids. They involve parents and the community in a very integral way." I > think that applies to both private and public school. Yes, all this is important to a school's success. Equally important is a culture that stimulates and rewards a work ethic as was prevalent in the Victorian era and is today still strong in certain ethnic groups like Asians and Jews. Our culture to its detriment has become "compassionate" in this regard, considering it "fair" to reward everyone equally regardless of achievement and beating up on the "rich" as being undeserved of their wealth. The phenomena of "grade inflation" is an indicator of this attitude. We've all heard the phrase, "dumbing down." > Now a final comment, what does this have to do with MOQ. Personally from my > perspective as a school leader it is vital to build a strong social > foundation of tradition in which intellect is valued and fostered. It > requires both a rational managerial understanding and a humanistic value for > our local culture and community values. In those communities with great > schools I would be willing to put money on the table that the social and > intellectual values of community are congruent and strive for quality. A society (culture) that values the individual and supports her effort to be all she can be is one that fits the MOQ to a T. (IMHO) Platt ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
