Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Lessons from Dayton
It looks like Detroit is the first big city school district to be dramatically affected by market forces. They could learn a lot from looking at Dayton.
Enrollment there is dropping dramatically while charter schools have grown. They’re closing schools left and right. The districts is being forced to constantly readjust its budget and is consistently underestimating its enrollment losses. And even private schools are closing as enrollment declines there have hit a critical point.
The Detroit News story I cited doesn’t get into the charter school impact. But last year when I was living in Michigan, reading the daily news of the Detroit schools had a familiar tone.
An advantage Dayton has that Detroit lacks is a cohesive school board committed to financial stability. Dayton also got some lucky financial breaks that helped. But I’ve often wondered what might have happened if the district hadn’t responded aggressively to the financial challenges of choice. What if the competition had forced a real financial collapse?
Detroit, with its paralyzing politics and managerial struggles, could show us. If you’re interested in school choice, this is one to watch.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
Comments
By Mary
March 21, 2006 7:58 AM | Link to this
I can assure the oldprof (Jim?) that I, and many others, do not want school choice for religious reasons. One of my concerns about the public school environment is the lack of diversity in staff and the homogeneous cliques. For example, schools favor hiring only education majors. There is a debate about that on page 12A of today’s USA Today. Schools then proceed to divide students and parents into various cliques, especially athletic, band and academic that are as a rabid and fanatical as any religious groups. Most children just need a quiet place to think, learn and get an education from someone who knows and is passionate about something like music, health, history, foreign language, math and science.By Rick
March 19, 2006 3:55 PM | Link to this
I guess OldProf likes unresponsive monopolies that miseducate children. The good news about bad charter schools is that they will be found out. Until recently a bad public school was not closed; it was rewarded with more money. He also forgets these are not really “public funds” but rather taxes extracted from the citizens, including parents.By Oldprof
March 19, 2006 2:14 PM | Link to this
As Susan Bodary—Taft’s education point person—notes, parents don’t choose schools based on careful and competent consideration of education quality. They “choose” because they don’t like staff at their public school, because they don’t want religous or ethnic diversity, because they want to conform to make a political statement. Bodary doesn’t acknowledge racism or religious intolerance as a factor in “school choice” but we’d be blind not to know it’s there. It’s a mistake to think that all parents are capable of, or willing to make sound education choices for their children. “Too imporant for a monopoly” is a nice catch-phrase; should we also open police, fire, EMT, taxation, and the US Military to “charter” providers? Those are also quite important!By Mary
March 18, 2006 9:57 PM | Link to this
OldProf makes good points about corporate welfare, and potentially poorly managed charter schools. However, there are also problems, inefficiencies, and other issues with traditional public schools - at least for some students, families and taxpayers. Choice allows alternatives for those unhappy in the traditionally managed schools, which are sometimes non-responsive and generally monopolistic. The heavy exits in certain cities (when vouchers become available) demonstrate that customers have not been satisfied. They leave with much less money or dollars attached to vouchers than attached to the same student in the traditional schools. In a country that boasts about its freedoms, we should be allowed choices in our education. I believe in cracking down on corporate welfare, corruption, and runaway executive pay, as well. But give people choices in educational programs. Education is too important for a monopoly.By OldProf
March 18, 2006 8:59 AM | Link to this
The advocates of “market forces” conveniently forget that in private enterprise, over 90% of all new businesses close within 3 years. It’s also interesting that the state officials have no money to support education and they want cut-throat competition among schools, yet they think there’s plenty of money to prop up for-profit manufacturing firms—so much for true capitalism in the private sector and efficiency in the public. Financial instability may yet descend on Dayton’s public schools, and it will be the experimental (e.g., students-as-guinea-pigs] charters that will skim off most of the public funds.By Rick
March 18, 2006 8:29 AM | Link to this
You are correct, Detroit is in big trouble. Also Dayton is blessed to have a school board that is committed to improving and recognizes reality. We are also blessed that our Mayor and Commissioner Williams are serious about not overspending.By Mary
March 17, 2006 1:36 PM | Link to this
It is intersting all the excuses that have been made for so many years fighting school choice. I am not sure Detroit is the first urban district to experience major losses - didn’t Miwaulkee also have some market forces take place a few years back. Aren’t Columbus, Dayton, and Cleveland experiencing some of this too? Interesting the article closes with a parent who says school work was not challenging enough for her 4th grader. That also happens in “excellent” suburban districts where market forces should also be allowed to take place. I read an article today from another list about the controversy in Delaware over a charter school for gifted students. A US senator’s son from Delaware attends. He and the principal are among those defending the selective admissions for the sake of the high ability learners who are also being ignored in the system. Ohio supposedly has 5 charter schools for gifted students, but I do not think there is one in the Miami Valley.