I cannot remember which politician or political group sponsored the advertisement. It was in favor of the NJ bill for school choice. It sounds nice. I mean, who doesn’t like choice? The advertisement vilifies both public school teachers and the New Jersey Educators Association (NJEA), which is the teachers’ union. The gist of the advertisement is that our schools are failing our children, which was spoken as a blanket generalization without context. It states that public school teachers and the NJEA oppose school choice. The implications here are obvious. 1) The teachers and NJEA do not care about the children or they would support “school choice.” 2) Charter schools are better able to serve our children in all situations. While I am not able to find the advertisement online, this letter to the editor echoes the sentiments on NJ.com.
What is wrong with the ad?
The advertisement is such blatant propaganda and is wrong on many levels. For starters, the people behind the advertisement are not educators. They are politicians. Politicians who, by and large, do not use the public school system. What is worse, though, is not that they have a different opinion than I do (which is always welcome when civil discourse is possible), but that education is being sacrificed for political gain. An honest agenda would have presented facts or studies to support the egregious claims made in the advertisement. Offering teachers and the NJEA up as scapegoats solves no problem.
Second, despite the apparent beliefs of many NJ politicians, Secretary of State Arne Duncan, and President Obama, charter schools are not the panacea to all of the country’s education woes. Charter schools can solve some problems sometimes, but they are not THE answer. There is no easy, single answer. The problem is that politicians need something simple and concrete. No politician wants to go to his/her constituency and say that there is a long and difficult road ahead and that schools are going to take decades to fix if we start repairing the broken system now. It is much more palatable to voters and politicians if they can say this is what’s wrong (They failed a test!) and this is how we can solve it (Close the school! Open a charter!).
I am not going to use this post as a forum to discuss the benefits and costs of charter and public schools, although that will come in a post in the near future. However, charter schools are not held to the same standards as public schools and they are not required to follow the same restrictions. Yet, they are funded with public money. There is nothing charter schools do that public school cannot if given the same freedom.
The advertisement ends by saying, “Don’t let your child’s zip code determine his future.” I may have the words slightly off, but it is what was communicated. I agree with this. This sentiment stems from the fact that different towns have schools of varying quality. The way to fix the problem is to improve the schools so that they are all good schools and not to bus kids to other towns. Let me state that heterogeneous schooling is both unwanted and undesirable. However, we can work to improve the quality of the schools. In my experience, teachers are caring, hard-working, and willing to improve, when they have support in identifying what’s wrong and in helping to develop strategies to improve. For the record, a mandate saying that higher test scores are required is not including teachers in developing strategies to improve a school. Changing the way schools are funded would not be a bad idea either. Schools here are funded by property taxes, so the richer areas are obviously going to have access to better facilities and resources and, sometimes, teachers.
Also, how are the schools failing? The advertisement does not say. I would, though, bet anything you want that it is referring to a test score. I’m sorry NJ politicians, but if that is your only measure of a failing school, then I reject it. A handful of tests are not indicative of the overall health of a district.
Why do they oppose school choice?
The advertisement sets up teachers and the NJEA as being against children because they are against the bill for school choice. I have not contacted the NJEA (I am not even a member) and I cannot speak for any other teacher. However, there are a few reasons that stand out.
Supporting this bill would be tantamount to saying that the public schools are not willing or able to help children. Many teachers work unbelievably hard because they love their children. They should not take kindly to what is basically a governmental slap in the face saying that they are not good enough. If we are not good enough, then test us why and help us improve. We care about the kids and are more than willing to improve. But if you push a test score in my face, I can think of a few better places for you to put it.
I’m writing annoyed, which is not usually a good idea, so I may be less tactful than usual. I would appreciate any feedback. As always, you do not need to agree with me. Unlike the advertisement, I am open to civil dialogue discussing the merits and drawbacks of both the bill and the teachers’ union.
