Maine: School Choice Destroys Rural Communities

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1. Chiara says:

   February 18, 2017 at 12:35 pm

   But DeVos doesn’t leave rural schools behind. She plans to sell them online products to replace teachers.

   It’s VERY innovative. Buy a program and plunk the kids in front of a screen where they’re tested every 20 minutes. It’s cheaper too. You can jam 60 kids into one classroom and tell parents it’s “personalized learning”.

   Viola! 21st century learning at half the price of 20th century learning. By the time people figure out it’s a scam the funding for teachers will have been cut and they’ll be stuck with it forever. It’s a beautiful business model.

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   • ciedie aech says:

     February 18, 2017 at 1:01 pm

     And what she and so many technology fanatic reformers simply don’t take into account (and what most recent FCC rulings now look to continue) is that Internet service will NOT be free/cheap/equal across the nation anytime soon.

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2. Lloyd Lofthouse says:

   February 18, 2017 at 12:51 pm

   The war on drugs launched by Nixon back in the 1960s has also destroyed communities. After more than 50 years, the results have been devastating especially for black communities.

   By now, a rational person in a position of leadership should see how wrong that approach was and stop throwing people in prison for using addictive drugs. Yes, these drugs are bad but prison is not the solution.

   And sugar is just as addictive as cocaine if not worse so why isn’t sugar consumption a crime punished by prison sentences? The answer to that question is easy:

   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ from the sale of candy, cake, cookies and soda

   The U.S. has the largest prison popularization on the planet and it is still growing. China with almost 5 times the population has fewer people in prison. The U.S. has about 700 per 100,000 in prison vs. China with less than 150 per 100,000. And China’s critics in the U.S., rabid lunatics like that malignant narcissist in the White House, accuse China of being an authoritarian state, a dictatorship?

   American has to start looking in a mirror instead of pointing fingers at every other country on the planet and trying to change and/or dominate them.

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3. LeftCoastTeacher says:

   February 18, 2017 at 12:59 pm

   “Trump, meanwhile, has said he will create a new $20 billion program to encourage states to expand vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools, as well as charter schools.” And the previous administration showed him how to do that with RttT, Race to the Talking pineapple picnic. Once again, we will all rely on state governments to eschew the funds dangled before them. Once again, federal funds will quixotically be awarded disproportionately to states most willing to destroy public education. Once again, the vast majority of students, urban and rural, will be cheated and left without experienced teachers or often, even decent roofs over their heads. Makes about as much sense as a question on the SBAC.

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4. Charles says:

   February 18, 2017 at 1:00 pm

   I read the article. It appears to me, that the school in this town, has been facing problems for many years. It is ridiculous to blame Trump/DeVos, for their difficulties.

   What is needed, are innovative approaches to meeting the educational needs of the students in these rural areas. PART of the solution, will be found in technology. I worked for a college TV station, and our college had a professor in Bowling Green, KY, and the class was in Glasgow, KY, 30 miles away.

   High school classes can be taught by distance instructors. On-line and internet classes can also be utilized. Instructors at nearby schools, can commute to rural communities.

   And the Feds can give block grants to rural school districts, to make up for the tax receipts resulting from the decline of the population and tax base in the communities.

   School choice/vouchers are basically meaningless in a community that has no alternatives to the public schools.

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   • speduktr says:

     February 19, 2017 at 12:40 am

     My son lives in a rural community not quite as remote as the one described in the article. He used to call us on his cell phone when he was on top of a mountain and we would lose him as he went downhill. His computer access is by satellite. Recently it has gotten more reliable; we can actually see him when we Skype whereas before it was like looking at impressionistic art. Forget the internet when it storms. Of course, we are not even approaching how such school systems are supposed to afford the infrastructure costs. There is a continual battle over cost effectiveness and quality of life. I don’t think there are any easy solutions, but I suspect the losers will be those who have chosen a rural lifestyle. Majority rule, right? (snark alert)

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5. Susan Lee Schwartz says:

   February 18, 2017 at 1:12 pm

   Cross posted the Washington Post article itself here https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Where-school-choice-isn-t-in-General_News-Choice_Education_Internet_Public-Education-170218-417.html#comment646119

   with this comment, which has embedded links at the address above.

   I have many links to the reality of this ‘school choice’ reform, but here is one that has the evidence of what happens with vouchers.
   Phyllis Bush is a retired educator and a member of the board of the Network for Public Education who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She writes here about the hidden cost of vouchers, which are a gift of public dollars to private schools with no accountability.
   I have many links to the reality of this ‘school choice’ reform, but here is one that has the evidence of what happens with vouchers.Phyllis Bush is a retired educator and a member of the board of the Network for Public Education who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She writes here about the hidden cost of vouchers, which are a gift of public dollars to private schools with no accountability.

   Look, The oligarchs need to Get ’em Young! ” This is my mantra, and it should go VIRAL… AS THE PLOY TO END DEMOCRACY BY ENDING PUBLIC EDUCATION!
   , and cloak inequity:
   http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Truth-Why-vouchers-and-sc-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Betsy-Devos_Children_Corporations_Discrimination-170202-708.html#comment643341

   “Vouchers violate the American ideal of democracy because they transfer educational decisions from the public domain (through school boards and elections) to private management companies and organizations. This has already occurred in charter schools run by private charter management organizations that refuse public input into teaching and curriculum decisions. These organizations oftenprioritize profits over learning, using public tax dollars to hire inexperienced, teachers, and pocketing the difference. By permitting entirely private schools, vouchers would further decrease public accountability and create a wall between the public and the education sector, thereby diminishing democracy and the role of education as a public good;” writes Frank Adamson of Stanford University. He also says: “The best way to stop Trump’s plan to privatize public schools is to say no to vouchers, .”

   Look, The oligarchs need to Get ’em Young! ” This is my mantra, and it should go VIRAL… AS THE PLOY TO END DEMOCRACY BY ENDING PUBLIC EDUCATION!

   “Vouchers violate the American ideal of democracy because they transfer educational decisions from the public domain (through school boards and elections) to private management companies and organizations. This has already occurred in charter schools run by private charter management organizations that refuse public input into teaching and curriculum decisions. These organizations oftenprioritize profits over learning, using public tax dollars to hire inexperienced, teachers, and pocketing the difference. By permitting entirely private schools, vouchers would further decrease public accountability and create a wall between the public and the education sector, thereby diminishing democracy and the role of education as a public good;” writes Frank Adamson of Stanford University. He also says: “The best way to stop Trump’s plan to privatize public schools is to say no to vouchers, .”

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6. Susan Lee Schwartz says:

   February 18, 2017 at 1:17 pm

   AND A SECOND COMMENT taken from Diane’s site: https://dianeravitch.net/2017/02/18/john-kasich-is-a-nitwit/

   “AND NOW…THIS! ‘Mark Dynarski of the Brookings Institution has published a research review in which he concluded that public schools definitely have the advantage over private schools that receive vouchers. This is especially good news because rightwing ideologues continue to argue the (non-existent) benefits of vouchers, and because Brookings had become an advocacy platform for school choice since the appointment of George W. Bush’s education research director, Grover Whitehurst to run its education center (Whitehurst no longer runs the Brown center program at Brookings).'”

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7. Gail Robinson says:

   February 18, 2017 at 1:31 pm

   This is a good story on something many of us urban ed reporters all too often ignore. My one complaint is they should have mentioned the poor performance of on-line schools and the understandable reluctance of many parents to want their kids in the house all day.. Internet access can be easily addressed. The failing of the model cannot.

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8. wgersen says:

   February 20, 2017 at 11:19 am

   I’ve done a lot of work in rural NE schools… and I believe the answer is to broaden their mission. Here’s something I wrote a six years ago on the topic…

   Reformatting New England Schools

   As commenters above indicate, ANY technology based solutions like this require spending on infrastructure at home as well as at school… I’m currently working on an update to this…

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