RE: Michael Atherton's relentlessly pessimistic posts on
public schools:
In watching Michael Atherton's responses to various posts on
public schools, I am struck by his absolute insistence that public
schools are a failure--no matter what response he gets from School
Board members or parents or anyone.
From my experience, this endlessly dark, destructive view of
public schools usually isn't just personal pessimism. It's a
deliberate conservative strategy: repeatedly say public schools are
an utter failure, then push towards privatizing them.
And unfortunately, it's not just Michael Atherton of Prospect
Park doing this on the Issues List. The founder of Wal-Mart and
another billionaire have recently put something like $100 million
into a "think-tank" that endlessly promotes Public School Failure and
says the solution is vouchers so kids can escape "failing schools"
Now I'd have a lot more trust for these folks if they exhibited the
slightest interest in poverty or minority youth in any other area of
their lives. But they don't.
In fact, these are usually the very same conservatives who
scream for social programs to be eliminated; affirmative action
dismantled; mass transportation cut, park programs slashed and
affordable housing put far, far from their own homes. But they've
taken up this unusual, highly focused interest in poor kids in
failing schools.
Of course, the vouchers Republicans propose aren't enough to
buy poor kids a good, private education. But these vouchers can open
the door for wealthier people to send their kids to private school
with public funds. This is, in the end, what the game is all about.
It's true some struggling students do better in private
and/or charter schools. But it's in no small part because they have
parents who are passionate enough about education to actively seek
out and apply for these special schools. (An interesting aside
though: in Texas, the charter schools have turned out to be far worse
academically than the much-maligned public schools Last year 80
percent of Texas students in public schools passed the basic state
test versus 37 percent of the students in charter schools. And it was
a really dumbed-down test.)
The more interesting, broader question for voucher proponents
is how private schools would deal with the more difficult
students--the ones who arrive in school straight from a juvenile
detention facility, who have serious emotional, mental or physical
disabilities and whose parents aren't going to fill out the
application, much less show up at the school when their kid
misbehaves.
It's funny, but every time I propose that private schools
take on these kids and that we have an honest, fair competition with
private and public schools each working with the same mixed
populations, the conservatives tend to get pale and run for the
doors. As one lovely Republican parent whose kids go to St. Paul
Academy told me, "I will NEVER allow those kind of students at my
children's' school." My, my and he had just been regaling me about
the glories of opening the schools up to free market competition.
This spring I've wondered about the Republican attacks on
education coming out of our state House --much of which is
specifically aimed at Minneapolis (and St. Paul) schools. So I asked
my state Senator, Myron Orfield, when did the Republican party
decided to assault the schools? I mean, I'm 44. I don't remember the
Republicans of my youth trying to bring down public school systems.
And what's the political pay-off since 90 percent of the kids in this
state attend public schools?
Myron says the attack on public education comes, in part,
from a highly ideological view within the Republican party that ALL
government must shrink. In the past, Republicans focused their wrath
on welfare mothers. But with welfare now making up only 1.8 percent
of the state budget, it's sort of a moot point. Education, on the
other hand, makes up 30 percent of the state budget. If you're a
conservative committed to the theology of shrinking all government,
schools are your natural target---and city schools are where you
begin because there's a lot of poor, minority youth.
.
In fact, I'd say urban school systems, like Minneapolis, have
pretty much replaced the proverbial Welfare Queen Driving A Cadillac
as a rallying point for conservatives. It's our turn to be demonized
and mythologized so the system can be privatized or massive cutbacks
justified.
Of course, liberals have their own role to play in this
drama. We have plenty of kids who are doing well in Minneapolis
schools. But we have plenty of kids who are failing-- mostly
chronically poor minorities, especially African-Americans. Privately,
almost everyone will acknowledge that a huge percentage of these
failing students are coming from chaotic, disastrous homes. Some of
the chaos isn't the parents' fault. A medical crisis, the lack of
affordable housing and the impossibility of getting by on
minimum-wage jobs can throw any family, no matter how hard-working
and well-intentioned-- into a horrendous tailspin.
But we also have parents who are real screw-ups. ( and yes,
they do come in all colors, including white.) They're depressed. Or
drinking. Or both. And they don't give a damn about their kids'
education--won't turn off the TV, read a book or help with homework.
Won't put their kids to bed at night or wake 'em up in the morning or
feed 'em breakfast. Won't stop beating them. Won't show up at school
for a conference if their kids misbehaves. Won't send their kids to
summer school--even after school staff have gone door to door, made
personal visits and begged for cooperation. When parents drop the
ball this completely, the district can try real hard, but it doesn't
get great academic results for these kids.
Yet some people will say, "Well, then it's the district's job
to get these parents on board! The schools need to go out and meet
with these parents. It's the schools' job to get these parents more
engaged....."
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As a rule, many liberals don't like to talk
about personal responsibility and personal failures. They'd rather
talk about the failures of the schools or some other larger system.
So we listen to endless lectures and data about How Our Schools Are
Failing To Meet Our Children's Needs. Yet anyone who spends much time
in the classroom knows that when it comes to academic success usually
It's The Family, Stupid.
But we don't say that. Because it's judgmental. Because it
could be racist. Because it pathologizes poor people. So we stay
quiet and talk about How Our System Is Failing Our Children. And
conservatives are quite happy to let us do this. Because then they
can pronounce---like the Michael Athertons of this world--that Public
Schools Are A Total Failure. And call for vouchers and charters.
It's like tag-team effort between well-meaning progressives
and not-so-well meaning conservatives to set-up public schools and
I'm tired of it. And under the current political climate, I don't
think we can afford to do it anymore.
We're heading into some fierce battles. We need to be upfront
about what schools can fix and what they can't. We must do our best
for all our kids. But schools need to quit apologizing for stuff
that's outside their control. The opponents of public schools are
well-organized and well-financed. They take all our hesitations, our
silence, our hope that somehow we can make it all better- and they
use it against us.
I've lived ten years in this town. And I've never heard city
legislators sound so grim about what's going on over at the Capital.
More than one legislator has told me that the hostility towards the
city, especially the schools, is mind-boggling. "It's evil," said
one. "That's the only way to describe it."
At one point, David Brauer suggested, perhaps mischievously,
that Michael Atherton might want to run for School Board, since
Atherton seems to feels the system has failed so badly. Somehow I'm
not holding my breath. Since Atherton doesn't appear to wish the
schools well, it's hard to imagine him taking on a constructive role.
Besides, playing the sniper is so much more fun.
Meanwhile, those of us who remain committed to public
education need to get ready to for a long, hard political fight.
Dang! I'd rather go on a field trip or teach a kid how to read.
Lynnell Mickelsen
Linden Hills, Ward 13
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