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Superintendent sends in the following:
Yesterday, we
outlined the path to vouchers. A
path that has nothing to do with parent choice and everything to do with tax breaks
for affluent parents. Today, we
will test the “Parent Choice” misdirection play of the voucher proponents.
Why limit parent
choice to just choosing schools? After all, it seems disingenuous to
demand vouchers using the mantra of parent choice and then limit the choices
parents have. That’s no choice at all. It is still the government making
choices for parents and giving you the illusion of choice. And why are
parents allowing Austin to tell them they must leave their local public school
if they want school choice? Why can’t parents have school choice in their
local public school?
The limitations of
parent choice in local public schools are put in place by Austin, and the
limitations can be easily removed, which is consistent with the conservative
belief of “deregulation.” If we are going to have parent choice, let’s go
all in. I have a proposition for parent choice that will transform
existing local public schools into the type of schools parents want.
I
ran some of these ideas by some advocacy and parent groups, and the ideas were
well received. How many parents are leaving local public schools because
of high stakes testing and ridiculous standards of accountability that the
parents simply don’t agree with or understand? How many parents leave
local public schools because they want more input into the curriculum and
graduation requirements for their children? How many of those parents would
return to traditional public schools if the parent could choose the level of
testing and accountability for their child? I posed this question and
this is the response I received from the Texas Parents Union:
"We suspect many
parents have exited the system due to overemphasis on test results and
"achievement gap mania."
True parent choice
does not come from some limited menu of options generated in Austin or D.C.
This plan for parent choice is simple and it’s virtually free:
1. Parents work with educators in their local
public schools to develop a course of study for their child.
2. The parent
could even work with their local public school to choose instructional delivery
methods: traditional, on-line, and/or blended. The options are many. The
parent may choose to have math traditionally taught, but may choose to take
English on-line. Some parents may see no need for their child to have art
and will choose to omit it from their child’s curriculum.
3. Parents choose the test level and
accountability standard for their child, including the option of none.
Parents work cooperatively with educators in their local public schools
to make this decision, much like the current ARD process in special education.
4. Parents are free to use advocates to help
advise them during the process of making choices for their child.
5. Parents are not locked into their choices;
they have a true, free range of choices and can change and customize their
choices as needed for the best interest of their child.
6. Neither
Austin nor D.C. gets a say. After all, it’s about parent choice.
7. Once the parent decides the school is
failing their child, the parent can choose another school. Again
neither Austin nor D.C. gets a say. It’s about parent choice.
8. Each local public school is free to be what
each parent wants it to be. Constraints on what a public school can do for
parents are removed. After all, why is the government requiring parents
to leave their local public school in order to have choice? Virtually all
constraints that deny parents choice in their local public school are put in
place by Austin. Remove the constraints, deregulate.
9. Reams of the Texas Education Code can be
eliminated. It may even be possible to eliminate or drastically change
the role of TEA. TEA could turn into the organizer of the Regional
Education Service Centers. In this capacity the Service Centers and TEA
answer to the school districts and help provide the resources and options
parents are choosing in their local public school.
This is a simple
plan and the cost is negligible. If a parent wants an education for their child
through the 12th grade but thinks testing for their child
should end in 8th grade with a basic skills test (or no test
ever, at any grade level), then so be it. It’s about parent choice and
what right does government have to negate that choice?
So there it is,
true parent choice, not the choices Austin allows parents. I say this and
believe it: if the government refuses to do this for parents, their intention
is not parent choice, their intention is something else and parents are merely
being used. Don’t be used. Do not let the government force you out
of your local public school in order to have a choice. I will leave you with an
excerpt from one of Vincent’s famous letters to Theo discussing the works of
Zola:
We’re used to
insipidities of that kind, to such pretty lies, that we reject powerful truths
with all our might. ~ Vincent Van Gogh to Theo Van Gogh, July 2nd, 1883, The Hague.
Parents, reject
the pretty lies and demand the truth, and true choice. Take back your
public schools.
Mike Seabolt
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
- Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
- Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
- Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
- Upcoming Presentations: Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals (Keynote), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
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