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0|0|0|||||Is public education working%3F Would we know%3F|alexb||12:35:02|02/04/2005|%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0A From Common Dreams News Center %5BBreaking News and Views for the %0D%0AProgressive Community%5D%2C Thursday%2C January 6%2C 2005. See %0D%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fviews05%2F0103-22.htm%0D%0A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0A%5BPublished on Monday%2C January 3%2C 2005 by CommonDreams.org%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AIs Public Education Working%3F How Would We Know%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ABy Robert Freeman%0D%0A%0D%0AImagine you%27re five feet eight inches tall. When you change the unit %0D%0Aof measurement to yards%2C you%27re 1.9 yards tall. Are you shorter %0D%0Abecause the number is smaller%3F No. Or go to centimeters. Now you%27re %0D%0A173 centimeters tall. Does the larger number make you taller%3F Of %0D%0Acourse not. Yet this is the effect we experience trying to judge the %0D%0Aquality of public education in the U.S. There are so many different %0D%0Astandards%2C all competing for mindshare with the public%2C it%27s almost %0D%0Aimpossible to know what%27s right any more.%0D%0A%0D%0AThere are state standards. And in some states%2C such as California%2C %0D%0Athere are multiple state standards. There are the new federal No %0D%0AChild Left Behind standards. There are the National Assessment of %0D%0AEducational Progress standards. The Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The %0D%0Afrequently heralded International Math and Science Test standards. %0D%0AAdvanced Placement exams for more advanced students. And so on.%0D%0A%0D%0ASome of these standards%2C like those of the No Child Left Behind Act%2C %0D%0Aare new. We don%27t really know yet whether they%27re actually telling us %0D%0Awhat they say they are. These things take years%2C maybe decades%2C to %0D%0Ashake out. Some tests%2C such as the International Math and Science %0D%0Atests compare apples to oranges%2C testing small groups of elite %0D%0Astudents in other countries against the broad average of students in %0D%0AAmerican public schools. Predictably%2C elites do better than averages. %0D%0AIf you test athletes against the general public%2C guess who is more %0D%0Aphysically fit%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ASo what is a parent or a citizen to do%3F It is a ritual incantation of %0D%0AAmerican civic discourse that public education is critical to the %0D%0Afuture of our country. How%2C then%2C can we be so confused%3F How can we %0D%0Aknow if public education is working or not%3F%0D%0A%0D%0APart of the problem is that over the last two decades an intense %0D%0Alobby has emerged that wants to turn public education over to private %0D%0Aindustry%2C make McStudents of the nation%27s youth. It has operated a %0D%0Anot-so-stealth campaign to disparage public education and to try to %0D%0Aconvince Americans that it isn%27t working. This campaign has mounted a %0D%0Arelentless%2C mantra-like vilification of public schools%3A schools are %0D%0Afailing%3B teachers are lazy%3B education bureaucracies are unresponsive%3B %0D%0Astudents are being cheated%3B America is at risk. Sound familiar%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ASome of this lobby%27s motivation is ideological%3A they dislike anything %0D%0Athat smacks of government control%2C the more so if the service is %0D%0Aeffective%2C for such examples repudiate the theological superiority of %0D%0Aall things private. Some of its motivation is directed toward %0D%0Aright-wing social engineering%3A they want to control the curriculum %0D%0Athat future generations of American students must absorb. And much of %0D%0Ait is simply economic%3A these %22prophets of profit%22 want to get their %0D%0Ahands on the %24500%2B billion that is spent every year in the U.S. on %0D%0Apublic K-12 education.%0D%0A%0D%0AThis isn%27t%2C per se%2C bad. We do%2C after all%2C live in at least a %0D%0Aquasi-capitalist society where the pursuit of profit isn%27t a social %0D%0Aevil. But it%27s the bashers%27 hypocrisy that rankles. They don%27t %0D%0Adeclare any of these motives openly. Rather%2C they talk of such %0D%0Avaguely incongruous motives as %22empowering minorities%22 and %0D%0A%22streamlining%22 education. These%2C of course%2C are the same corporate %0D%0Azealots who brought the %22magic of the market%22 to a formerly vibrant %0D%0Apublic health system. They are the pious do-gooders %28remember Enron%3F%29 %0D%0Awho bestowed energy privatization on California%2C the better to reap %0D%0Athe %22efficiencies%22 of competition. They are the same bleeding-heart %0D%0Aaltruists who profess wanting to %22save%22 social security by turning it %0D%0Aover to the tender mercies of the financial services industry.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo again%2C how would we know if public education is working or not%3F %0D%0AProbably the most reliable%2C broad-based%2C long-term tool for measuring %0D%0Athe quality of public education is the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The %0D%0ASAT has five strengths that make it the most useful measure of %0D%0AAmerican educational progress.%0D%0A%0D%0AFirst%2C it has been in place for over four decades so it reveals %0D%0Atrends that span multiple generations of students%2C teachers%2C and %0D%0Aschools. Second%2C it is given to high school juniors and seniors so it %0D%0Areflects the cumulative success %28or failure%29 of the entire K-12 %0D%0Aeducational system%2C not just performance in a single year. Third%2C the %0D%0Asame SAT is administered across the entire country so it compensates %0D%0Afor the variation in how different states test and account for %0D%0Aeducational progress. Fourth%2C the SAT cuts through the %22grade %0D%0Ainflation%22 that has become a standard fixture of all educational %0D%0Asystems over recent decades. Finally%2C the SAT measures not just a %0D%0Asingle%2C narrow skill but a broad range of intellectual development%2C %0D%0Afrom cultural knowledge and logic%2C to specific academic content%2C %0D%0Acomputation%2C and communication.%0D%0A%0D%0ABecause of its long history%2C its nationwide reach%2C and its %0D%0Acomprehensive nature%2C SAT results transcend the negative one-off %0D%0Aanecdotes commonly bandied about to disparage public education. No %0D%0Aother instrument even comes close to equaling these strengths as a %0D%0Asingular measure of national educational progress.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo what do the SAT%27s tell us about the performance of public %0D%0Aeducation in America%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ALast year%27s SAT scores were the highest in 30 years. English scores %0D%0Awere the highest in 28 years. Math scores were the highest in 36 %0D%0Ayears. The scores were at record levels for all ethic groups%3A whites%3B %0D%0AAsian-Americans%3B African-Americans%3B Native Americans%3B and Latinos. %0D%0AAnd they were achieved by the broadest test-taking pool in testing %0D%0Ahistory. Forty-eight per cent of the nation%27s 2.9 million high school %0D%0Aseniors took the test--a record. Thirty-six percent of the test %0D%0Atakers were minorities%2C another record.%0D%0A%0D%0AThirty years ago%2C only the most elite 15 percent of students took the %0D%0Atest. And remember%2C elites usually test better than averages. So the %0D%0Afact that scores have gone up while the test-taking pool has gotten %0D%0Aboth larger and more diverse may be the most powerful performance %0D%0Aindicator of all. These scores are a huge victory for those who have %0D%0Abelieved in and fought so hard for public education.%0D%0A%0D%0AEven more impressive%2C public schools have accomplished these new %0D%0Ahighs while confronting some of the greatest obstacles they have ever %0D%0Afaced. Consider just a few of these almost Herculean challenges%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A  Most mothers left home in the past 30 years to join the workforce. %0D%0ANo more Mrs. Cleaver at the door with warm cookies%2C milk%2C and help %0D%0Awith the homework when Beaver comes home.%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A  Over the past decade%2C American schools have absorbed the largest %0D%0Awave of immigrants in history. Most of these immigrants spoke no %0D%0AEnglish when they came to this country. Many had little if any %0D%0Acomparable educational preparation in the countries they left.%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A  Schools have been saddled with vastly expanded responsibilities in %0D%0Arecent years%2C much of it wholly unrelated to general academic %0D%0Aperformance. This includes broadened mandates for everything from sex %0D%0Aand drug education to increased demands for help with learning and %0D%0Aphysical disabilities.%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A  As a nation%2C we have almost completely surrendered students%27 %0D%0Asocialization to television. By the time they are 18 years old%2C %0D%0Achildren have watched 450%2C000 commercials%21 Meanwhile they spend only %0D%0A9 percent of their time in the classroom.%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A  Millions of the best teachers have left teaching for other fields. %0D%0AThis is especially true with women who used to have few career %0D%0Aoptions %28nursing%2C teaching%2C etc.%29 but who can now go into law%2C %0D%0Amedicine%2C engineering%2C business%2C etc.%0D%0A%0D%0ADespite all of these challenges%2C and throughout one of the most %0D%0Avitriolic%2C unremitting campaigns of character assassination in %0D%0AAmerican history%2C public education has delivered the highest %0D%0Aperforming group of graduates in over a generation.%0D%0A%0D%0AAgainst this record%2C those who would %22privatize%22 public education %0D%0Ahave virtually nothing to show for their decades of hucksterish %0D%0Aclaims. In trial after trial%2C experiments with educational vouchers %0D%0A%28the most popular form of school privatization%29 have proven a bust. %0D%0AVoucher programs in Milwaukee%2C New York%2C Washington D.C.%2C and in %0D%0ADayton and Cleveland%2C Ohio have shown no long-term gains in student %0D%0Aachievement. And this%2C despite in some cases skimming the cream off %0D%0Athe top of local student populations-recruiting only the best %0D%0Astudents while keeping problem or special-needs children out.%0D%0A%0D%0AFor example%2C the longest-running evaluation of a publicly funded %0D%0Avoucher program ever conducted%2C by Indiana University of the %0D%0ACleveland%2C Ohio program%2C found that %22student academic achievement %0D%0Apresents no clear or consistent pattern that can be attributed to %0D%0Aprogram participation.%22 In other words%2C the results are no different %0D%0Athan those for public schools. This is especially surprising because %0D%0Athe program participants were more white%2C more wealthy%2C and more %0D%0Astable than students in the local population. If privatized education %0D%0Acan%27t make it with this kind of free pass%2C it%27s not going to make it.%0D%0A%0D%0ABesides educational failure%2C the economic failure of the %0D%0Aprivatization model is reflected in the dismal fate of the country%27s %0D%0Alargest company providing such services. Edison Public Schools lost %0D%0Aover %24350 million dollars trying to perfect the McStudent formula. %0D%0AYet%2C after repeatedly failing to deliver on its promises and %0D%0Acontinually losing contracts%2C it was finally forced to be de-listed %0D%0Aby NASDAQ. It has converted itself back to a private company and no %0D%0Alonger publishes its financial information.%0D%0A%0D%0ANor do %22charter schools%22 fare any better than voucher schools. %0D%0ACharter schools are self-governing public schools frequently run by %0D%0Aprivate corporations. They were conceived as a way to %22liberate%22 %0D%0Apublic schools from conventional constraints in hiring%2C curriculum%2C %0D%0Aand administration. But in August%2C after the most extensive %0D%0Aexamination in the history of the country%2C the Department of %0D%0AEducation published data showing charter school students lag public %0D%0Aschools students in almost every category of performance. In math%2C %0D%0Afourth graders were a full half year behind public school students.%0D%0A%0D%0AGiven this record%2C it comes as no surprise that voucher and charter %0D%0Aadvocates have started changing their story. No longer do they claim %0D%0Asuperior results %28not that they ever actually delivered them%29. %0D%0AInstead%2C they begrudgingly claim that improved public school %0D%0Aperformance is due to the threat of competition from privatization. %0D%0AThis%2C of course%2C is conveniently unprovable but sounds a lot like the %0D%0Arooster taking credit for the sunrise. Meanwhile%2C support for public %0D%0Afunding of private schooling has plummeted. In the past year%2C the %0D%0Anumber of Americans favoring such programs dropped from 46 percent to %0D%0A38 percent according to a recent Gallup Organization poll. Why the %0D%0Achange of attitude%3F%0D%0A%0D%0AIt seems the prospect of millions of American families turning their %0D%0Achildren over to someone whose main motive is to make a profit off of %0D%0Athem has lost its appeal. Or perhaps they saw what privatization did %0D%0Afor energy costs in California or to the healthcare system nationwide %0D%0Aand don%27t want to take a similar chance on their most precious %0D%0Aassets. Whatever the reason%2C the once bright luster of privatizing %0D%0Athe nation%27s schools is fading. Not that the hucksters will give up. %0D%0AThere is too much at stake in their ideological%2C social engineering%2C %0D%0Aand economic agendas. But neither should they be given a free pass %0D%0Aany more to disparage public education the way that they have.%0D%0A%0D%0ATo be sure%2C public education still faces tough challenges. Schools %0D%0Aremain underfunded. Teacher pay continues to fall behind that of %0D%0Aother professions. American spending on education as a percent of GDP %0D%0Alags that of many third world countries. Inner-city schools still %0D%0Ascore lower than schools in more affluent suburbs. And the %0D%0AOrwellian-named No Child Left Behind Act is a thinly disguised %0D%0Aformula to make schools fail artificial and unattainable %0D%0Astandards-the more readily to justify their privatization.%0D%0A%0D%0ABut the question of whether public schools can deliver should no %0D%0Alonger be open for debate. The only question is whether we have the %0D%0Acourage to now properly fund public education so that it can take our %0D%0Achildren and our society to even higher levels of achievement. I %0D%0Abelieve we can because I know that we must. Public education is not %0D%0Aonly the most important democratizing institution in America today. %0D%0AIt is the foundation of our economic future as well. It never really %0D%0Awent away. But still%2C it%27s good to have it back.%0D%0A----------------------%0D%0ARobert Freeman writes about economics%2C history and education. His %0D%0Aemail address is%3A robertfreeman10%40yahoo.com.%0D%0A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0A