Are We Reforming for the Right Reasons?

The latest trend in urban reform seems to be a push towards school choice. There are a great number of charter schools, transformation schools, and other schools that are being formed as an alternative to the traditional public school system. Even Alonso's new plan for Baltimore includes closing certain schools so that alternative schools may expand or so that new ones can be created. Is this expansion into the private sector research driven or is it being promoted by a select few? I have seen the results of the students in these alternative schools and they look great (even though they are not required to report anything so they are only putting out the data that people want to see). I have heard the teachers from these schools talk about how wonderful they are. What I have not seen is a study done on the performance of the schools that have students who were refused entry into one of these alternative schools, the ED students or students with extensive IEPs. How do the public schools look when all of these alternative schools take the best and brightest teachers and students? Maybe it is too early to tell since this is a recent movement or maybe this data has been looked over in favor of how well the few students in these schools are performing compared to the much larger number still in public schools. I have also seen parent and public comments on this recent trend. One parent responded to an article in the Baltimore Sun about Obama’s education plan claiming that his plan “…should involve improving the school curricula by including courses that help students meet the worldly demands of our highly technological society.” instead of “…giving parents who don’t know what they are doing a choice of schools.” A board member of the American Civil Liberties Union responded to an editorial supporting the BOAST bill by saying that, “[Private schools] are not obligated to educate low-income children, special-education children, children with disabilities or children presenting any educational challenges.” She also states that, “Vouchers for private and religious schools are part of a political and ideological crusade, not a plan for education reform.” This last statement made me wonder about the path we are taking towards reform. Is this trend of reform through vouchers, charters, or other forms of choice what is best for all students, as should be the overarching goal, or is it for the select few?