Henry M. Levin, Best Countries - Eighty
percent of private school students in the U.S. are in religiously
affiliated institutions that reflect their family beliefs, but not
necessarily the values of a democracy. It is natural that families would
like their schools to reinforce their religious, philosophical and
political beliefs, but these must be weighed against a common experience
that justifies government funding.
Some have argued
that competitive incentives induced by school choice will lead to better
educational outcomes. However, there is little evidence to support this
claim.
Sweden has had an educational voucher system
since 1992, but its achievement levels on international tests have been
falling for two decades. Chile has had such a system since 1980, and
there is little evidence of improvement in achievement relative to
countries at similar levels of income. Cleveland, Milwaukee, and the
District of Columbia have issued vouchers to low-income families, but
sophisticated evaluations find no difference between achievement in
private voucher schools and public schools with similar student
populations. Students from low-income families in Louisiana who have
used vouchers to shift from public to private schools have experienced
striking reductions in achievement gains relative to similar students in
public schools.
In England there has been a dramatic
shift from schools governed by public councils to academies run by
private groups with great autonomy and the ability to select their own
students. The results on student achievement show no distinct advantage,
and there are similar results for U.S. charter schools based upon
careful statistical comparisons.
Where school choice
has shown powerful effects around the world is the systematic separation
of students by ethnicity, social class and religion.
Sweden’s
vouchers have increased segregation by social class and immigrant
status. Chile’s voucher system has produced one of the most segregated
system of schools in the world by family income. In the Netherlands,
studies of the school choice system have pointed to school separation of
students by ethnicity, immigrant status and family income. A Brookings
Institution study found that U.S. charter schools are more segregated
racially and socio-economically than public schools in surrounding
areas. The Program for International Student Assessment, an important
triennial study of international student performance, finds school
segregation by social class is associated with school choice
2 comments:
Your anti charter school bias is out of control. There's not a single word about charter schools in this piece. Do you even know what a charter school is?
There's no interest in the subject. A shame, really, when it's about public education. How the fuck are we ever going to be able to do something as a group when we can't agree on the fact that teachers should be qualified and then autonomous.
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