School choice, FCPS, Republicans/Democrats
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Anonymous
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I'm trying to learn and understand more about school choice. I'm a democrat that thinks it makes sense, but it seems only republicans including trump are in favor of school choice. But obviously there have been choices in DC for a while, I suppose due to the poor quality of DCPS schools historically. I feel we are all responsible for educating all children, I'm not trying to shirk my duty, but don't see why families must be stuck with just the local public school. I'm wondering....
1. Will Fairfax county ever have charters or vouchers? If so, how would that happen? 2. Wouldn't choices eliminate some of the overcrowding and other issues that FCPS is facing? 3. Why do republicans support choice for schools and democrats do not? 4. The money that I pay in taxes...where does that go if I choose to homeschool or go private? I assume fcps gets less money if it educates less students, so it just stays with the county? Putting this in the general schools forum rather than Va public schools as I'm interested in comments about school choice in general, not just in fcps although that is where I live. |
Anonymous
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Democrats don't support school choice because they want to keep funding in the public school systems. Many argue that charter schools are not better quality, they are just free to cream skim the best students and get rid of the bad ones. Republicans support school choice because they don't care if public education collapsed at all.
I believe whether you have children in the system or not, a large portion of your taxes are in the school system still. It is not like FCPS doesn't have a funding problem. I doubt either MCPS or FCPS will have charters soon. Let alone vouchers. Party because they are still considered good school system. It won't really eliminate overcrowding because charter schools will take some of the funding away. Remember they are privately run publicly funded. So few new schools can be built or renovated with FCPS. |
Anonymous
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1. no
2. yes 3. b/c there is money to be made in private schools and repubs like businesses that make money. 4. on a large scale, yes... but if just a few homeschool, then no. Democrats don't like vouchers b/c they take money out of public schools and they do not have accountability for results. Some of it has to do with teachers union and keeping power with the unions (which support dems), but more of it has to do with being able to take public tax dollars and let parents use it for religious schools (which tend to support repubs). Also, those who are left in the public schools (the ones who the charters and privates rejected) tend to be the bottom of the barrel. Publics need the middle and top kids. Publics know that the cream of the crop will be skimmed off and they will be left with even fewer dollars to educate the hardest cases. Death spiral. More segregation. More tax money going to religious schools that don't have to teach the special needs kids or poor or poor behavior kids. Follow the money -- it won't necessarily benefit the kids. |
Anonymous
| Thank you both PPs for these explanations, gives me more to research and consider. |
Anonymous
| In Dcps there tends to be two different kinds of Charters there are some that appeal more to the educated/affluent provide alternative programs to public school like montessori/language immersion/alternative curriculum. The other claim to be able to fix the achievement gap and appeal mostly lower-income and often run like academic boot camp. I could see the former being way more popular in Virginia and Maryland than he latter. However the drill and kill charter schools tend to be more popular and have franchises across the country. KIPP academic boot camp type school has hundreds of Charters all over the country |
Anonymous
| I would say also that a lot of poor families will save up to move out to the suburbs is in part due to the reputation of FCPS and Mcps. (That and rent in DC is so damn high) |
Anonymous
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OP - please do some research on this issue. Republicans don't support school choice because they are evil, or profit hungry. Philosophically, they believe that competition makes people work harder and institutions stronger. They also believe that more money doesn't necessarily result in improved performance. Finally, they tend to favor individual freedom, so feel that parents (given their strong self interest) could make the most appropriate educational choices for their children.
So, here is the vision: give each child a voucher for the value of per pupil funding (debates about how much this should be). Parents can use the voucher to choose the educational setting they prefer. If there is a flood of people out of a given (failed) public school, that school must either improve, offer innovative programs or close. Initially, there would probably be a shortage of spots in private schools, as many would have the option of choosing them for the first time, but supply would catch up to demand. Many Democrats recognize that there would be some losers in this scenario. Most important would be children whose parents pay no attention to the quality of education. They would be left in the presumably poor public schools, now made "weaker". However, the schools remaining could consolidate and focus directly on the needs of these kids. It depends on the per pupil allotment which could be different based on the needs of the child. Empty public schools would probably be leased to private or charter schools. The other losers would be poor public school teachers, whose positions might be eliminated and who would not be competitive for new private and charter school jobs. The argument that charter and private schools are not accountable is a joke. These schools would be directly accountable to parents. There are many public schools that are failing and which are totally unaccountable to their customers - kids and parents. The voters have some very indirect method of expressing their displeasure by voting out the school board, but that is it. |
Anonymous
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I think FCPS is a very strong public school system. Within that system, one can choose AAP programs (if eligible), language immersion programs, arts/science magnets, IB, AP, and Academy programs. In the rare situation where schools like Dogwood in Reston failed to meet standards for several years in a row, parents were given a transfer option to other schools (this was about five years ago).
Having read about city charters that failed to provide students with a sound foundation or, conversely, pushed out lower-performing kids so they could raise their profiles, I'm not eager to see one of the nation's best public school systems cannibalized by those who are hostile to public education. |
Anonymous
| If it is "best," people won't leave. That's the whole point. |
Anonymous
This. There are other ways to support school choice than charters. |
Anonymous
Uneducated a bit? Republicans support school choice because UNIONS make it terribly expensive and difficult to get rid of bad and/or ineffective teachers. Haven't you heard of the RUBBER ROOMS in NYC? Unions only have the union's leadership in their best interest - not the students', as they like to claim. |
Anonymous
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Democrats don't support school choice because charter schools, for the most part, are not unionized. Fewer union paying suckers equals fewer dollars to their buddies at the top of the AFT and fewer dollars to their re-election campaign.
oh - but kids first, of course! |
Anonymous
Uneducated? In the example of FCPS, which was mentioned in the PP, the majority of teachers don't belong to a union and there is no union negotiated contract. |
Anonymous
Check your privilege. Most teachers work very hard for modest salaries. |
Anonymous
There are no teacher Unions in Virginia. They are only membership organizations. |