Education for the Future

Welcome news on the education front in Chicago. (Image courtesy of the National Science Center) Yesterday's Tribune:

As educators grapple with how to close the math and science gap between students here and abroad, executives from one of the nation's largest electric utilities are investing in an innovative school in Chicago to help close the divide.

When it opens on Monday, the Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy will become the first open enrollment public high school in the city focused on the two subjects. The academy is named after Exelon's John Rowe and Frank Clark, who altogether donated $2.2 million. Exelon contributed an additional $2 million, for a total of $4.2 million, the largest single gift to a school within Chicago Public Schools, district officials said.

There is a shortage of skilled math and science graduates to fill jobs now and in the future, so this will help meet the need around Chicago. But there is also a shortage of skilled teachers in this area, and more school choice would offer the higher pay and flexibility to draw in some looking for a second career. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy on developments in neighboring Michigan, where some public school teachers are making new choices:

First, charter schools attract teachers who appreciate the professional autonomy they find in a non-union setting. When teachers are able to taste true independence and professionalism, they have little desire for the antiquated baggage of industrial-era compulsory unionism that still dominates traditional government schools.

And parents benefit as well, ending the endless tug of war between competing special interest groups for a piece of the public school pie:

Second, charter schools must earn the attendance of each student. Unlike traditional public schools, children aren't assigned to charter schools based on residence. To attract students, charters must be free of the expensive overhead and inefficient work rules that characterize traditional government schools. Charters are accountable directly to parents, and survive only if they please these customers by offering a superior education to their children. They recognize that union tactics that drive up costs and reduce professionalism would kill their efforts.

The private sector is also helping encourage retiring math-science-skilled employees to become teachers. We need more academies like this, more choices for underperforming students so that they have a future.

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