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

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

On 02/03/2013 10:51 AM, Richard Tarara wrote:

> An old refrain from me, but the goals and procedures of public 
> education need always be viewed through the lenses of the 'public 
> good'.  This is why public education exists--to serve the 
> society...NOT THE INDIVIDUAL.

That's a good point.  I might have stated it slightly more mildly:

   This is why public education exists -- primarily to serve the
   society...NOT just THE INDIVIDUAL.

That is to say, the effect on the individual is non-negligible.
Call it a secondary effect if you want, but it should not be 
completely neglected.

> It is why we all PAY for this education.

Agreed.  Not only do we pay for it, we make primary and secondary
education mostly /compulsory/.

=========

I agree with the notion of "public good" as used here.

  By way of contrast:
  Pettifogging the strict definition of "public good" is not helpful.
  The canonical examples of "public good" -- such as fresh air -- do
  not meet the strict definition.  The Koch brothers want to annihilate
  the EPA ... but they would probably feel differently if they lived
  downwind of a pollution-spewing Georgia Pacific plant.

Public education is as much of a "public good" as fresh air.

> I would suggest that much of we we see in the way of 'well educated'
> versus 'poorly educated' children has a high degree of correlation to
> the involvement of parent(s) with that education.

Indeed.

That leads to some possibly-constructive suggestions.

  1) Teachers should explain to students, again and again, that there
   is a public purpose to education.  This should be a required part of 
   the curriculum in every grade from kindergarten on up.  Students 
   should write essays on the subject.

   As a good side-effect, with any luck, the parents will see some of 
   the essays and get the hint.....

  2) It might be a good use of school district money to put up some
   billboards around town saying 
		READ to your KIDS
			this message brought to you
			by the Hometown School District

   The idea here is twofold:  For one thing, at the utterly literal
   level, it would be a Good Thing if parents would read to their 
   young children.  Secondly, at a slightly more subtle level, it
   plants that the idea that the school district expects parents
   to play an active role in educating the kids.

  3) I'm a big believer in communication.  One of the most basic
   steps toward building a consensus is to track down the various
   stake-holders and find out what they want.

   Getting parent involvement is a good first step, but there are
   additional important steps.  Given that education is a public good,
   teachers and school administrators need to engage the public.
   They need to make the case by talking to the public ... and they
   also need to /listen/ to the public.

   Listening in big public meetings is mostly just eyewash.  You tend
   to get speaker after speaker who wants half the class-size with 
   half the budget ... which is just not practical.  Maybe it makes
   "some" people feel good that they were listened to, but it sure
   doesn't work that way for me or the people I hang out with.  We
   consider it rude and disrespectful to ask for somebody's opinion 
   and then ignore it.

   A better strategy would be to schedule some time with (say) a local
   business owner.   Say "We educators work for you as much as for anybody
   else.  Here are the constraints we face.  Here is the cost/benefit
   proposition as we see it.  Is there anything we can do that would 
   improve our product, as you see it, within the constraints?"

  4) Along the same lines, it is important to make the case to retirees
   and other folks who don't have kids in the school system.  These
   people vote, and if they don't see education as "public good" they
   aren't going to fund it.

   The pitch is complicated, but it starts from the observation that
   retirees need services.  If we don't train people to provide
   those services, it doesn't matter how much money you have, you
   won't be able to buy the services.  Therefore putting some of your
   money into education is the best investment you could possibly make.

   One thing we can learn from recent political experience should
   have been obvious all along:  It is not sufficient to make a good
   policy decision.  You have to explain the policy and explain why
   it is a good idea.  If you don't do that, you will get clobbered 
   politically, and you will lose the ability to implement your policy.