In a ‘behind the headlines’ article in the Washington Post, journalists found that recent polling indicates “D.C. school ratings up among system parents, but doubts remain.” In a survey done by the newspaper itself and the Kaiser Family Foundation, 53% of parents with children in the D.C. public school system rated their school as doing a good or excellent job, compared to just 31% in January of 2008.
The survey also shows an increase in Michelle Rhee’s favorable ratings since her resignation. The article offers quotes from parents who say that they used to move their child to schools outside of the city, but now recognize the growth of the school system and where it is headed.
However, the article isn’t all positive: while parents attitudes may look a little sunnier, “the survey found views of the general public are still downright negative in some areas.” Sixty percent of the general public in D.C. rated the schools as “not good” and “poor,” and many suggest that the schools are too risky to send children or do not prepare them for college.
But which opinion matters? I think it is enormously meaningful that the parents who are intimately involved in the system are beginning to recognize the impact of change in D.C. schools. But they aren’t the only people in the city who vote and determine funding for schools or policy-level change. It takes a whole city to embrace change in education for real change to happen. And what would a poll like this look like in Baltimore? Many suggest that Baltimore is a city where the majority of people recognize the changes happening in the school system, but I’d be curious to see the results of a poll like this in Charm City.
Perhaps with the new chancellor of schools, Kaya Henderson, who was unanimously approved Tuesday, the parents and general public will become a more united front. Henderson, once the director of Teach For America DC, is quoted in the article as saying “I think we have come a long way, but we have a long way to go.”
2 comments:
A few things struck me strongly when reading your post and the article. First, even with the 22% jump in favorable parent opinion of DC schools, the numbers are still extremely low. 53%? As a TFA teacher, I am all about growth, but Henderson's point that there's still a LONG way to go hits home with these statistics.
I also find it interesting that it was noted that the 60% of the public who think the schools are still "poor" or "not good" were white and black upper class voices, regardless of connection to the school system. It wouldn't surprise me if a similar trend was seen if this study was done in Baltimore. (It also makes me wonder about the race and social status of the 53% of satisfied parents...)
This brings us back to your big question: which opinion matters? Is it more important that the morale of district parents is on the rise? Or is it more important that outsiders are still critical?
I agree with you that the parent opinion is extremely significant. After all, they are the ones who most directly see changes in their kids' education. If things continue in this direction under Henderson, the public will begin to hear more stories of growth and change. Hopefully, the rising parent opinion is just the first ripple.
Also...
This got me thinking about how the general public who DON'T have kids in school get their information about how schools are doing. Because they don't have a child through whom to see the changes in schools manifest, most of their opinion has to be formed by the media. I wonder how the recent cheating scandal in Baltimore will effect parent and public opinion... It will undoubtedly create an even more negative attitude in the general public's eye. But what about parents, who see the effects of schools much more regularly? Can someone please conduct a poll? And again, whose opinion matters at the end of the day?
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