Written by: Dr. Tony Lux
It has been proclaimed by at least one State School Board member that the State Board should not be in the school takeover business. If that means public schools being taken over by for-profit education organizations, I couldn’t agree more. However, the business the State Board of Education should absolutely be in is the school improvement business, and that responsibility should be carried out by the Department of Education under the auspices of the State Superintendent of Public Education.
The Governor’s recent decision to disband the Center for Education and Career Innovation has been lauded as a move towards improving relations between the State Board and the State School Superintendent. However, the creation of another State organization to be responsible for implementation of State laws related to “underperforming” schools receiving Ds and Fs results in a new form of bypassing the State Department of Education and the State Superintendent. Couple that with the announced effort to have State legislation that strips the State Superintendent as Chair of the State Board, moves the top education official ever closer to a position of irrelevancy.
The education community of this State, as well as the 1.3 million voters who selected Glenda Ritz as the top education official, should be outraged to see the will of the people marginalized and diminished. The Governor’s advertised intention to expand Charter Schools and private school vouchers is just more of the same ineffective and cost inefficient school reform that resulted in the public ouster of Tony Bennett in favor of Glenda Ritz in the first place.
True school reform needs to be based on giving underperforming schools options regarding the replication and implementation of proven instructional strategies, teacher training, and pre-school and during-school intervention for disadvantaged and under-achieving students. The Governor’s plan for fostering Charter School proliferation and discriminatory private school vouchers to compete with so-called “failing schools” is nothing more than a hit or miss approach with buyer beware risks. It relies on hope and prayer for raising student achievement, rather than on education research for school improvement overseen by the DOE.
Over six thousand petitioners are calling for an end to Charter School and private school expansion so that scarce State tax dollars can be used for improving public schools and raising student achievement. Let the State Superintendent and DOE do their job. Public Schools Deserve Better. Join the petition by clicking here!
