I wonder if the achievement gap and the disproportionate number of inexperienced teachers has to do with the voucher system. I lived in the Washington, DC, area for 35 years, and we did not have voucher systems in DC, VA or MD. A voucher system permits parents to take their children to schools where they believe they will be better accommodated. This means that the brightest children move to the highest achieving schools. The money goes with them, which means that higher achieving schools can afford to pay their teachers more, so the teachers also go to those schools.
Without a voucher system to fall back on, parents in the DC area demanded better of their schools. Teachers stayed put, for the most part. The money stayed put. People and schools worked on addressing the real problems rather than running away from them by moving their kids. If parents really wanted to move their kids, they could, but they got no help (vouchers or busing) from the school system. If they wanted to cross school district lines, they had to pay tuition for their children. Competition is a wonderful thing when you are trying to identify the brightest and the best and get rid of the rest. It works for sports and in business. Vouchers use the competition model. When you want to insure that all participants get the best possible treatment, however, competition undermines that goal. Students competing to get good grades is fine. Schools competing to get the most funding will always create an achievement gap and put the least qualified teachers with the students who need the most help and the most expertise. Dorothy Titus Jordan Neighborhood REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
