A long time ago (six years), I posted excerpts from three different sources on choice in education. One was from Adam Smith. Another was from an English TV show. The third was from a columnist in New Zealand. Well, here is one more.
This is an excerpt from an excerpt. "The Daily Beast" ran an excerpt from Michelle Rhee’s new book, Radical, in which she talks about her time as Chancellor of the District of Columbia public school system. This excerpt talks about how and why she came to support the Opportunity Scholarship program in D.C. (a federally funded voucher program), something that got her a lot of criticism from fellow Democrats*:
“When I began my stint with the D.C. public schools, I had strong ideas about what education reform should look like …. I believed wholeheartedly that we had to have a very strong focus on teacher quality. I was also a believer in charter schools. …
But I drew a very deep line in the sand when it came to vouchers. … I had bought into the arguments that Democrats and others use in opposition to vouchers: vouchers are a way of taking money away from public school systems and putting them into private schools; vouchers help only a handful of the kids; and vouchers take children and resources away from the schools and districts that need those resources the most.
… But soon after I arrived in Washington, D.C., I was in a pickle. The District of Columbia had Opportunity Scholarships, a federally funded voucher program that helped poor families attend private schools. The program was up for reauthorization ….
‘You’re the most high-profile education official in the city,’ a Washington Post reporter asked. ‘Do you think the Opportunity Scholarship program should be re-upped?’
My inclination was to say no. …
However, I wanted to have my facts straight. So I decided to meet with families across the city and spend some time better understanding the Opportunity Scholarships initiative. …
The outreach I did about the Opportunity Scholarships was part of a countless number of meetings I had with parents over the course of my time in D.C. …
The typical mom would come to the meeting armed with data and talking points. For example:
‘I currently live in Southeast,’ she would say. ‘Our house is zoned to the local elementary school. I have done quite a bit of research into the school and was shocked to find that only 20 percent of the children are operating at grade-level proficiency. …’
Then the mother would tell me she had gone online and researched all the best schools in the district. She had read about Mann and Key elementary schools, in Northwest D.C. She told me either would give her child a better education, even though it would mean two hours of commuting a day. She had applied to those schools and a number of others through a lottery process that allowed out-of-boundary students to attend certain schools.
I knew what was coming next.
‘But we didn’t get in. … Can you help me?’ …
Oh, I could have found a spot for them at another D.C. public school, perhaps marginally better than their home school. But that wasn’t what they wanted. They were looking for the exact same thing that I wanted for my two girls: the best school possible.
Who am I, I thought, to deny this mom and her child an opportunity for a better school, even if that meant help with a seventy-five-hundred-dollar voucher? If they got a voucher, and her child could attend a really good Catholic school, perhaps, why would I stand in the way – especially since I don’t have a high-quality DCPS alternative?
I just couldn’t look mother after mother in the eye and deny their children the opportunity I wanted for my own children. It would have required me to say, ‘Gee, I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to suck it up. I know your elementary school is a failing school, and your child will probably not learn how to read, but I really need five more years to fix the system. And while I’m fixing the system, I need you and your neighbors to be really patient….’
If someone said that to me, I’d have said, ‘You may need more time to fix the system but my kid doesn’t have time. She has only one chance to attend first grade …. So with all due respect – heck no!’
After my listening tour of families, … I came out in favor of the voucher program. People went nuts. …
‘Michelle, what are you doing?’ one education reformer asked. ‘You are the first opportunity this city has had to fix the system. We believe in you and what you’re trying to do. But you have to give yourself a fighting chance! You need time and money to make your plan work. …’
‘Here’s the problem with your thinking,’ I’d answer. ‘My job is not to preserve and defend a system that has been doing wrong by children and families. My job is to make sure that every child in this city attends an excellent school. I don’t care if it’s a charter school, a private school, or a traditional district school. As long as it’s serving kids well, I’m happy. And you should be, too.’
Here’s the question we Democrats need to ask ourselves: Are we beholden to the public school system at any cost, or are we beholden to the public school child at any cost? My loyalty and my duty will always be to the children.”
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* I hope this is not too long of an excerpt. If you get a chance, read the whole article at “The Daily Beast” and click on their ads. Or read the book.
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