The Hope of Choice

Perhaps we are reaching a crisis point in our schools that even liberals can't ignore. When both Time magazine and Oprah are amplifying calls for school reform it has become the conventional wisdom.

Mary Mitchell in her Sun Times column outlines the problem, quoting the Manhattan Institute's study "Leaving Boys Behind: Public High School Graduation Rates", the source of Time's highlighted story "Dropout Nation" and Oprah's show "American Schools in Crisis". There is a 30% dropout rate for public high school students, and barely a majority of black and Hispanic students graduate, 55% and 53% respectively. The numbers are worse of course for boys. And the issue is not just limited to urban areas, but affects rural schools as well:

And while some dropouts echoed something Mayor Daley said recently -- that they were bored with high school -- it will still take a drastic change in our thinking to fix our failing system. As laudable as the goal of sending every student to college may seem, many students are more interested in learning job skills than they are in preparing for a career.

Schools will need early literacy programs; a choice of learning environments for kids who are struggling in regular schools; early identification of at-risk students; support for vocational education, and the involvement of parents or mentors, Time magazine reported.

A number of major cities have undertaken school reform. This week we have Nebraska legislators supporting a plan sponsored by a black legislator to split up Omaha's school system to afford more local control of resources, even though the individual districts will be less ethnically diverse. Washington Post story here. The legislator is a longtime critic of the school system.

With the backing of the Republican congressional majority, Washington DC's failing school system was rescued by a voucher program, which is in its second year, and has made believers out of skeptics. NY Times:

As a student at Shaw Junior High School here, Amie Fuwa strained to shut out the distractions of friends cutting up. She struggled through math, and used photocopies or the library when textbooks were scarce.

Now Amie, 14, a child of immigrants from Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, attends Archbishop Carroll High School, a Catholic school near a verdant hill of churches nicknamed the Little Vatican. When algebra confounds Amie, her teacher stays with her after school to help, and a mentor keeps her on course.

''It's a lot of people behind my back now,'' Amie said.
Before, she said, she ''felt like it didn't really matter to different people I know, like my teachers, if I failed.''

Amie is one of about 1,700 low-income, mostly minority students in Washington who at taxpayer expense are attending 58 private and parochial schools through the nation's first federal voucher program, now in its second year.

Last year, parents appeared lukewarm toward the program, which was put in place by Congressional Republicans as a five-year pilot program, But this year, it is attracting more participation, illustrating how school-choice programs are winning over minority parents, traditionally a Democratic constituency.

The DC mayor supported the program:

Washington's African-American mayor, Anthony A. Williams, joined Republicans in supporting the program, prompted in part by a concession from Congress that pumped more money into public and charter schools. In doing so, Mr. Williams ignored the ire of fellow Democrats, labor unions and advocates of public schools.

''As mayor, if I can't get the city together, people move out,'' said Mr. Williams, who attended Catholic schools as a child. ''If I can't get the schools together, why should there be a barrier programmatically to people exercising their choice and moving their children out?''

Here's what a mom had to say:

Ms. Walton said that her neighborhood school ''has broken down,'' and that she would have done just about anything to keep Breanna from going there. ''Every child here should be able to say I'm going to set my sights high,'' she said. ''I refuse to let my child be cheated.''

And here's a sixth grader, thinking about next year:

'I'll probably go to Washington Latin,'' said Jhontelle Johnson, setting her sights on a new charter school opening in August. If not, she said, ''I'd probably be home-schooled.''

A teacher's aide, Sheonna Griffin, looked askance. ''You don't like public schools?'' she asked the child.

Jhontelle turned back, her young eyes flashing. ''You can't make me go,'' she said.

School choice is an issue in the mayor's race in Newark, N.J. Ten years after the State Dept. of Education took over Newark's school system, the largest in the state, performance has barely improved. According to the NY Times, more than 70% of their 11th graders failed the state math test in 2004, and school violence has increased dramatically:

Many in Newark now seem open to giving vouchers a shot. Rosa R. Langston, 82, the director of the Office of Children in the city's Department of Health, for example, said that she had been skeptical of vouchers until her granddaughter received a scholarship to a private school, and went on to the University of Pennsylvania.

"If vouchers save our children, for God's sake give it to them," she said. "I'm tired of our children failing."

The head of the Black Ministers' Council of New Jersey, the Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, supports vouchers, and he supports Mr. Booker, the mayoral candidate:

"Mr. Booker has enough ammunition to defend himself on that position," he said. "In fact, I think a majority of citizens in Newark want school change by any means necessary."

These kids need the hope of choice. They need the opportunity to succeed. We need leadership to make it happen.

UPDATE: Chicago's dropout rate is 54%. The Gates Foundation has awarded $21 million to Chicago public schools to target dropouts with a more rigorous curriculum. Tribune here.
UPDATE II: States in thrall to the teachers' unions are, not surprisingly, gaming the system to thwart No Child Left Behind. Sun Times here and here.