Education should be more about learning than about memorizing. It should be about learning to think, not being told what to think. My observations since being in the Missouri Legislature is that differing views regarding education reconcile most readily when the focus is on the student: the young men and women who are setting the direction of their lives.
The challenges that lie ahead of these students include marriage, children, occupation, vocations, religion and friendships… Who is equipping them and how. The most common means of education is via the schools we typically call “public schools.” I usually refer to them as state-sponsored schools because the state typically has far more input and influence over them than the public. Nevertheless, regardless of what education choices are available to parents in states like Indiana, Florida, Mississippi or Nevada, 90 to 95 percent of students will attend these public schools.
Senate Bill 612 was heard Wednesday in the Senate Government Reform Committee with the purpose of satisfying the needs of the 2 to 10 percent of students whose parents believe their sons and daughters would be more likely to succeed in a different learning environment. Examples of differing education strategies include charter schools, which in Missouri are restricted by law to St. Louis and Kansas City. Another option, to which some students adapt readily is virtual school. Missouri has limited access to virtual courses but does not allow virtual school. SB 612 is a bill that truly opens the doors to parents with students whose needs do not conform to the state-school model.
The bill would allow scholarships to be financed by private individuals, businesses or corporations and partially recovered through income tax credits which are called Education Savings Accounts or ESA’s. The total amount of scholarship funding tax credits would be capped and students who qualified would be allocated a portion of what it currently costs the state on average for their education. Certain restrictions apply, but a parent could use their ESA for curriculum, private school tuition or even to attend a different public school that was better suited to their needs. Other states who have given parents choices for educating their children have consistently seen improved education outcomes for both the small percentage that choose alternatives as well as the students who do not – truly a win-win-solution to learning challenges.
There was testimony in the public hearing both in support and in opposition to the bill. I fully believe parents having choices so I may be prejudiced, but it seemed to me that those testifying in support presented positive student outcomes as their incentive while those who opposed the bill (teachers’ unions and associations representing school administrators and school boards) focused on what they perceived as threats to their institutions from competition. Even though public schools would actually see increased dollars per student, the opposition frequently addressed its objections to finances rather than student benefits.
ESA’s have helped families with students from special needs to those with exceptional potential. I have included links if you’d like to research structures and results. There are multiple sources of information, but the links provided are from www.edchoice.org.
The challenges that lie ahead of these students include marriage, children, occupation, vocations, religion and friendships… Who is equipping them and how. The most common means of education is via the schools we typically call “public schools.” I usually refer to them as state-sponsored schools because the state typically has far more input and influence over them than the public. Nevertheless, regardless of what education choices are available to parents in states like Indiana, Florida, Mississippi or Nevada, 90 to 95 percent of students will attend these public schools.
Senate Bill 612 was heard Wednesday in the Senate Government Reform Committee with the purpose of satisfying the needs of the 2 to 10 percent of students whose parents believe their sons and daughters would be more likely to succeed in a different learning environment. Examples of differing education strategies include charter schools, which in Missouri are restricted by law to St. Louis and Kansas City. Another option, to which some students adapt readily is virtual school. Missouri has limited access to virtual courses but does not allow virtual school. SB 612 is a bill that truly opens the doors to parents with students whose needs do not conform to the state-school model.
The bill would allow scholarships to be financed by private individuals, businesses or corporations and partially recovered through income tax credits which are called Education Savings Accounts or ESA’s. The total amount of scholarship funding tax credits would be capped and students who qualified would be allocated a portion of what it currently costs the state on average for their education. Certain restrictions apply, but a parent could use their ESA for curriculum, private school tuition or even to attend a different public school that was better suited to their needs. Other states who have given parents choices for educating their children have consistently seen improved education outcomes for both the small percentage that choose alternatives as well as the students who do not – truly a win-win-solution to learning challenges.
There was testimony in the public hearing both in support and in opposition to the bill. I fully believe parents having choices so I may be prejudiced, but it seemed to me that those testifying in support presented positive student outcomes as their incentive while those who opposed the bill (teachers’ unions and associations representing school administrators and school boards) focused on what they perceived as threats to their institutions from competition. Even though public schools would actually see increased dollars per student, the opposition frequently addressed its objections to finances rather than student benefits.
ESA’s have helped families with students from special needs to those with exceptional potential. I have included links if you’d like to research structures and results. There are multiple sources of information, but the links provided are from www.edchoice.org.
3 comments:
Wrong. I am neither and I am opposed. It is very easy to take cheap shots at the public system and blame teachers. It is easy to side with schools that are filled with financially stable families. A public school teacher has not taken that easy road and it is very easy for the Bill Whites of the world to blame them instead of the deeper and more complicated issues of teaching kids from families that are not well off or educated. Since Mr White is so concerned with kids, why doesn't he get off his high horse and delve into the problems himself of public school issues. I bet the old Jesus would have done that. The new Republican Jesus sure seems to avoid the tough situations that are put in your path. What cowards the we have become.
Google ECOT. See the story of the rise and fall of the largest online charter school in Ohio. See how much money the management made (and now wants to keep), and then guess how much the Republican lawmakers accepted in campaign contributions.
Ooops!
"Until today, John Goldman was a Senior Manager of Finance, Analysis and Strategy for the Washington, DC Public Charter School Board. But today Goldman was suspended pending investigation after photos surfaced of him at parties with known neonazis and white supremacists as the pseudonymous "Jack Murphy," self-proclaimed liberal-turned-conservative in the age of Trump."
https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/dc-charter-school-board-official-exposed
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