05 May 2011

Liberals Who Support School Choice

I like to see open minded people on the right and the left support policies that are not doctrinaire. There are many conservatives for example who support rail and better transit options. Here see see some on the left support more school choice:
...American liberals have been reluctant to embrace school choice, fearing it will drain resources from government-operated schools. Yet isn't it even worse to support a system that rewards concentration of the rich in exclusive suburbs segregated from the poor? -John Norquist in the Wall Street Journal

5 comments:

Frau Bloggerin said...

Open mindedness is often a very admirable trait.... whether fromleft or right, that means they can accept theopposite side's view.... great people i must say.

Anonymous said...

Maybe these liberals are just familiar with the Cincinnati magnet system? The one where "school choice" means that the wealthy get to choose whether they feel like paying for private schools or whether they want to take off work and set up their fancy tents and grills for 8 days in order to take up most of the magnet school spaces.

Heh.

CityKin said...

and your point is what now?

Parents will get the best they can whether it involves moving to a wealthy district, waiting in line, or paying for a parochial school. Parents will do whatever their means allow. Thats the whole point of the linked article.

BTW, no one has ever waited 8 days in a CPS magnet school line. Fairview's line this past year started on a Friday for applications due Monday, they're certainly not all wealthy, and CPS just voted to change the system anyway. heh?

Anonymous said...

As a liberal, urban-dweller who has been through the local school system, I was simply commenting that maybe what makes some hesitant to accept a school of choice program isn't that it will drain the government-operated system, per say, but instead that most of these forced systems are still simply unfair.

You said, "Parents will do whatever their means allow." What you really mean is that parents who HAVE means will do whatever their means allow. So what about everyone else? Not every liberal, urban-dweller is there by choice. It's about what they can afford. That same group, as interested as they might be in the quality of education that their child receives, isn't always able to take off days of work, find childcare for their children, and the other things that the school of choice process sometimes requires.

And then, some parents simply don't care. It's a sad state of affairs, but who speaks for their children? Who fills out their voucher applications? Who waits in line for them?

So, maybe some of us just think that the liberal-way of school reform would be to simply make public schools a better place for kids of all means to attend. Crazy, we are.

(Oh, and the "new" lottery system only is technically more fair. It allows CPS to feel less guilt. Kids who still deserve a quality education will now just not get one based on their bad luck, instead of by a poor place in line. How exactly is that better for them?

And, you're right. It wasn't an 8 day wait for local magnet schools this year. CPS took applications on Tuesday morning. The lines at Fairview and Sands started the Thursday morning prior, which was well documented by the local news. So, it was 5 days. Splitting hairs.

Maybe some people should think beyond their own circumstances? What you imply to be a measly wait is up to five days of no work for a parent, which for some, means no pay for those days, and the consequences of that can be beyond critical for those barely making ends meat. Not everyone is you.)

Anonymous said...

Anyhow, I thought it was you who said the lottery system was unfair and that you didn't like the thought of parents camping out either? http://www.citykin.com/2011/02/magnet-lottery-system.html