Education Reform

Although there are many very good public schools, our public education system in general is a failure.  The biggest failure involves our inner-city public schools.  Democrats and Republicans alike for years have tried to fix the problems in public education by throwing more money at the current system.  More money has resulted in substantial increases in the size of the educational bureaucracy with corresponding increases in the administrative requirements imposed on classroom teachers.   Classroom teachers are burdened with reports that must be submitted to educational bureaucracies at the federal, state, and local levels.   It seems that bureaucrats justify their existence by coming up with new requirements to be imposed on classroom teachers, leaving them with low morale and less time to teach their students. 

In my opinion, there are two simple ways to improve the quality of our public education system—more parental involvement and more competition.   

The first solution requires action by parents.  More parents, especially minority and low income parents, need to take an active role in insisting that their children place a high priority on getting a good education.   Numerous studies have shown that schools with active parental involvement perform at a much higher level than schools with little or no parental involvement.  Unfortunately, many inner city schools have little or no parental involvement.    The problem lies with the culture in some segments of our society.   No amount of money will bring educational excellence to a culture that does not value education. 

I have lived in the City of Atlanta for most of my adult life.   The Atlanta public school system has a terrible reputation, but there are some good public schools within the Atlanta system.   The good schools have one thing in common:  parents who are actively involved in the schools and who place a high value on education.    There are also good public schools outside the City of Atlanta but within the Atlanta metropolitan area.   Again, the good ones have active parental involvement.  

Because I am not now and never have been a teacher, you might legitimately question the basis for my opinion regarding the importance of active parental involvement.   In addition to reading about various studies on the subject, I come from a family of teachers.   My wife is a former high school English teacher in a public school, and my daughter has taught in both a private school and a public school in Atlanta.    I have two sisters who have taught in public schools for many years, and I have several nieces who are teachers.   Plus, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that children of parents who place a high value on education are going to outperform children who come from a culture where education is not valued.   It’s only common sense.    Money is not the cure for this problem.      

The second solution requires action by the government.  The government needs to permit more competition in the public education system.   In this regard, John McCain favors voucher programs designed to give parents a choice over where their children can attend school, and Barak Obama is opposed to voucher programs.   McCain finds it “beyond hypocritical that many of those who would refuse to allow public school parents to choose their child's school would never agree to force their own children into a school that did not work or was unsafe.”   McCain believes school choice is a fundamental and essential right we should honor for all parents.  Where available, school choice programs have been very successful and have been especially beneficial to those with lower incomes who cannot afford private schools. 

Along with his fellow Democrats, Obama, who sends his own children to a private school, has consistently opposed school choice.  The teachers unions, who have a vested interest in the status quo, provide substantial contributions to the Democrats, who express their appreciation by supporting the teachers unions in opposing school choice.    Obama’s answer to poor school performance is to spend more money on such things as early childhood education, child care for “working families,” reform of the No Child Left Behind Act, teacher training, charter schools, and new afterschool programs.    Many of Obama’s proposals have merit, but for the most part they involve throwing more money at a flawed educational system.    If there is one thing we should have learned over the last several decades, it is that increased educational funding does not result in improved learning for students. 

The government cannot solve every problem.   In the case of education, the primary solution lies with parents—not with the government.   Parents must assume responsibility for the education of their children.    The best way for the government to help is to give parents more control over their education dollars.     

As I see it, McCain—not Obama—is the one who supports “change you can believe in” and who offers the most “hope” for public education.