It's time to end the idea of school districts.

[Snake Alchemist]

If little Johnny from the wrong side of the tracks wants to go to Upper-class HS and he can get from home and back then let him go. You'll see school improvement nationwide almost immediately.

[MrCoffee]

1. I disagree

There is quite a bit more to school districts than the boundary lines. The more local control over local schools, the better.

[Snake Alchemist]

2. It's just a way to keep the poor people in their place.

And good, experienced teachers transfer to the good schools which leaves depressed communities out in the cold.

[meaculpa2011]

9. Couldn't agree more!

[Major Nikon]

34. I don't see that as a solution

Why should a student from a depressed area travel miles across town just to go to a better school? And what happens when the 'better' schools fill up?

I see the start of the solution should be to spend the same amount on each student in each area or state. Then schools should offer incentives for good teachers to teach in areas they might not otherwise.

I do think school districts should be formed and reorganized periodically so they can manage efficiently. Too many education dollars are spent on overhead. No school administrator should make more than 10% above what the highest paid teacher makes.

[Snake Alchemist]

36. That would likely be the end results because the wealthy districts would demand it. nt

[Major Nikon]

41. They do so now already

The way to break that chain is simply for society to demand that no child gets a disproportionate amount of education funds based on where they live. If the wealthy districts want to increase the amount of public money spent on educating their children, they need to raise all the boats in the water.

[Drale]

3. School districts would not stop this

Chicago is one big school district and there are still upper class schools and lower class schools.

[Snake Alchemist]

5. So kids can attend whatever HS they want in Chicago? nt

[AngryAmish]

12. No. The good ones are selective admissions.

Have to test into them.

[Snake Alchemist]

17. That would have to be abolished immediately.

Don't want to teach poor or disadvantaged kids then take a hike.

[Drale]

18. Heres the thing your not looking at

a great majority of the problem is parents. Kids with parents who care do better in school, no matter what school they are at. Parents have to start taking responsibility or they should not have kids.

[Snake Alchemist]

20. I've met plenty of poor parents that care

Deeply for their children and wealthy parents who couldn't care less. That stereotype is offensive.

[Ikonoklast]

23. Poster you responded to never mentioned income of the parents.

Just that there were good and bad parents.

Seems to me *you* made that stereotypical assumption about "poor = bad".

[Snake Alchemist]

25. I could read between the lines. nt

[oldhippie]

30. Or you could make shit up. Or project.

nt

[Snake Alchemist]

31. Whenever I hear the some parents just don't care line

And it just so happens that parents who care live in the wealthier part of town then I become suspicious.

That must be why their poor right?

[WCGreen]

40. That is a huge problem...

Last edited Thu Feb 9, 2012, 10:10 PM - Edit history (1)

But the larger prolem is that we fund most school districts with property tax and so the people who live in the areas that have highly valued property enjoy tremendous leeway in how to run the local schools.

[Paulie]

4. How would they fit?

200,000 kids wanting to go to a school that fits 3000. How about lunch service? Or manage a staff of 20,000 in a building? Etc

[Snake Alchemist]

6. First apply, first get in.

Once full, you look for another school.

[AngryAmish]

14. I am certain that this is a system that could not be gamed.

[Snake Alchemist]

16. Every system needs a regulatory system overseeing it. nt

[JoePhilly]

22. They'd do it as a lottery.

The idea that the "first to apply" could even be determined doesn't fly.

Or what ... people SLEEP OUT in front of the school?

What about siblings? Do you only do it for your OLDEST kid and the younger kids also get in?

[Little Star]

7. Busing kids does not work. Been there done that. n/t

[Snake Alchemist]

13. Not busing. But if they can get there and back they can go there. nt

[meaculpa2011]

8. Any child in America...

should be able to attend any public school in America.

The bureaucrats would all have nervous breakdowns, but until quality education for all becomes a reality parents should have the right to seek out the best schools for their children.

[msongs]

11. imagine a high school with 14 million students lol nt

[The Genealogist]

19. I know you are being flippant but

your hyperbole leads me to an important component of my own ideas for eductation: proper funding. I know, I know, this is a pipe dream. But it is MY pipe dream. Properly fund, equip and update schools and their facilities, and there will not be 14 million students scrambling to get into a high school.

[madmom]

10. We kind of have that here, we have open enrollment. If there are any

openings they can apply and the school then does a check, to keep out riff raff (at least that's what they say). The perspective student must be able to get to at least a bus stop on a regular route, or have some other way of getting there.

[Snake Alchemist]

15. That sounds like the way it should be depending on the definition of riff raff. nt

[JDPriestly]

21. Where there's a will there's a way when it comes to picking a good school.

But you can't get into an overcrowded school. And many of the schools with top reputations are already very full. That's the problem. Usually people from the neighborhood around the school get the first choice to go to that school.

Better schools tend to be in neighborhoods with better educated, more affluent parents. That's just the reality.

Each child is different. A school with really high test scores may or may not be the right place for a child from a disadvantaged home. That child may feel really left behind in the school where all the other children have much larger vocabularies and more help at home. A teacher in a school with scores that are not so high may actually take more time with kids who need more help.

It just isn't so simple. I believe in neighborhood schools until high school with the exception of special needs children -- whether the special needs are those of the highly gifted or the disabled.

[Blue_Tires]

24. uh, no

that's not even in the top 100 things that could use fixing in the education system

[Snake Alchemist]

26. It would fix a ton of things within a year.

Once the wealthier districts are no longer isolated they'll be the first ones asking for all schools to improve.

[Blue_Tires]

32. That's highly speculative

Just like the early days of integration (or any time "those people" are moving into the neighborhood), those who can afford it will simply move en masse and create a new suburb and school...Happens all the time -- Take a few years of planning, but the wealthy will do it out of clear spite...

[Snake Alchemist]

33. That's true.

But just like with racial integration, the end product will be a much better result.

[Initech]

27. Um that's like 1/10 of what a school district does.

[JSnuffy]

28. Seems like...

... it would make every school equally crappy instead of trying to improve the crap schools.

[Snake Alchemist]

29. Doubtful.

The wealthier school districts would demand reform to improve all schools. What we have now is pockets/islands/prisons where we can put poor people's kids and condemn them to a substandard education. Just the lack of quality teachers in less affluent areas is enough to really bring down a child's education.

[MadHound]

35. Rather than ending school districts, let's try fully funding each and every one.

That way it doesn't matter where little Johnny lives, and then he could walk to a great school instead of riding the bus for a couple of hours to get to one.

[Snake Alchemist]

37. You'll never get that without the people with the money demanding it.

Start letting Johnny go to "their" schools and you'll see demand for it like you've never imagined.

[meaculpa2011]

42. New York City spends...

$19,000 per student per year. How much of that money ($475,000 for a class of 25 students) is sucked off by a corrupt and monolithic bureacracy? I'm sure that other districts differ only in degree. When I hear politicians and educrats bleet that they work "for the children" I want to barf.

[erinlough]

38. Sorry, but Michigan has this.....

one third of our students in a small rural school are from neighboring communities, including students from Benton Harbor. It has helped our school maintain our enrollment in a drastically shrinking manufacturing situation, but it has not improved our scores or achievement. I don't dislike it, it is more interesting, but it does not seem to produce the vast gains you are saying it will.

[MineralMan]

39. Kids in Saint Paul and Minneapolis can choose their own schools.

Saint Paul has quit transporting kids all over town, though, for budgetary reasons, but open enrollment is still the policy. It's all one school district, though.