First we had the competition for funding. Now we have the competition for students. The number of school age children is going down in many, many areas. Even districts that couldn’t build schools fast enough a decade ago, are seeing the drop in numbers. Throw in a religious/cultural gap that no one seems want to bridge any more, a discipline or parenting entropy, a decline in anything not labeled “math” or “literacy” (Physical Education class are now using the computer labs more than the English teachers) and it’s becoming a free for all in what education means to people. Some days it seems like the role of administrators, legislatures, “reformers”, etc. is throw something new at the wall and see what they can make stick.
Even though WA state does not allow charter schools (unlike the federal government, WA citizens can vote down laws they don’t like – in this case twice!) it hasn’t stopped districts from trying to attract students with specialized schools. Online schools were the hot thing a couple of years ago… not only could the student stay home to learn at their own pace, but they were also provided with their own laptop free of charge. I wonder how effective they really are? From personal experience, I know that it takes A LOT of personal motivation to courses like that and I do not envy the parent who has to get their student to sit down and work.
What will be the next trend? With the ability for parents to move their child at will, as schools sink further into not passing AYP, districts are not only desperate to keep their own students but also poach others from nearby districts. I have to wonder how that will affect those who don’t move and those who do? If district starts operating a school that offers programs for “advanced” or “self-starting” children (read “those with good social skills”), what happens to those students remain in their neighborhood school? I know this argument has been broached again and again – but it’s trickling more into districts who wouldn’t have thought about or even needed it five years ago.
Are we, in fact, creating an underclass of students who don’t have good social skills, involved parents or access to a early childhood education? Even if we are, am I willing to risk my child to bring back balance?
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