Re: [Phys-L] Economist Kern Alexander Explains the Problem with School Choice

["LaMontagne, Bob" <RLAMONT@providence.edu>]

It really is a good example. I'm glad John chose it.

Classical is a "choice" school. It is not a neighborhood school that one is simply assigned to. In fact, the low performing  Central High has walls within 50 feet of Classical. One is assigned to Central because you live in the neighborhood. One has to choose Classical. It is a city school - not a charter (by the way - why did John leave TIMES2 - a high performing district charter school off the list?). One has to apply to attend Classical, have a decent middle school record, and pass a rudimentary entrance exam.

Classical has a reputation of being very demanding - one of the reasons that most don't bother to apply. 

I have noted some of the numbers that John quoted in the past. The Providence schools are some of the lowest performing in the country. If it were not for Classical and a few of our district charter schools that students must apply for (but admission is by lottery) all of our students would be totally screwed. That is infuriating given that our cost per pupil is among the highest in the country.

It is also maddening how many public school teachers send their own kids to private schools (choice if you can afford it). We have Moses Brown, Lincoln, and Wheeler - all high performing private schools.

In general, we have had good success with our small number of district charters (they use regular teachers from the district but have more autonomy in the way the schools are run) - very mixed results with our "magnet" schools (some had to be closed for poor performance), and, as John has indicated, abysmally poor performance from our traditional schools. He is correct, no one in their right mind would choose them.

Bob at PC

________________________________________
From: Phys-l [phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] on behalf of Ze'ev Wurman [zeev@ieee.org]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 9:51 PM
To: Phys-L@phys-l.org
Subject: Re: [Phys-L] Economist Kern Alexander Explains the Problem with School Choice

On 2/3/2013 6:29 PM, John Denker wrote:
> =========
>
> How's the "choice" thing working out for you in Providence, RI?
>
> The "school choice checklist" is here:
>    http://www.providenceschools.org/inside-ppsd/registration/school-choice-checklist
>
> For each school, the percentage indicates the students whose test scores
> are on grade level or above grade level in math, according to:
>       http://www.providenceschools.org/media/55815/hs%20eng12.pdf
> "†" means not making adequate yearly progress.
>
> Alvarez                3%
> Career & Tech  0% †
> Central                4% †
> Classical     49%
> Cooley & PAIS  3% †
> E-Cubed                4% †
> Hope Arts      4%
> Hope IT                4%
> Mt. Pleasant   2% †

An excellent example why choice only within the regular public school
system is mostly a fake choice. Until there is a real and meaningful
choice outside the public system that challenges the public schools,
there is little reason to hope they will suddenly improve themselves.
And I can bet anyone that the per-student cost in all these schools is
within ~10% of each other (except for those that are targeted at
students with disabilities, if any).

Ze'ev
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