These last few weeks have been an exciting time of year for students making their milestones, and bittersweet for the teachers and parents sending them off to their next “gig.” That’s if they are successful. For many, moving on is filled with fear and anxiety if the education they are leaving wasn’t the best for them. So while you celebrate those around you moving up the ladder, just don’t forget those for whom the next transition may not be the best, and what you can do to resolve that. Just a thought. Now onto the rest…
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A student who beats lots of records
A graduating senior at Philly’s Father Judge High School was admitted to all five service academies, a testament not only to his hard work but the school which he’s had the privilege to attend. Father Judge is an all male, diverse, Catholic Salesian high school helps students obtain not only exceptional academic skills but workplace competencies that allow them to hit the ground running at their dream job - and also a Yass Prize semifinalist! The student, John Clark, recently celebrated his final choice of the Air Force Academy, and will be recognized this week by the city council. Watch the clip. Just amazing. Congratulations, John… and parents!!
Religious Charter Schools?? What???
The Gray Lady aka New York Times and just about every other major media institution is sounding alarm bells over the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s approval to allow the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School to open as a charter. That, as a friend pointed out, St. Isidore is the patron saint of the Internet is a bit ironic. But I digress.
The issue for fans and foes out there should not be about constitutionality. That ship sailed in Espinoza and Makin decisions… which both validated that the state cannot discriminate against the decisions parents make, even if they are religious, if they are already funding secular choices. In states with choice programs, it’s parents who are funded, not religious beliefs.
Now if someone opposes this move based on politics that’s another thing altogether. It’s still an open question whether allowing charter schools - which are supposed to be public - to also teach religion is a good policy decision or a bad one, depending on your viewpoint. But to say it’s unconstitutional is premature.
How school boards control the narrative
I’ve been mildly amused at the resurgence of the focus on school board elections the past year. Conservatives seeking to have input into local school decision making - whether content or finances - have been criticized for running and winning using volatile social issues as their hook. But those wins are actually rare compared to the thousands of races being waged and won by the status quo. The boards and their allies control the narrative and always have. What happens is well-documented in this critical read by AEI Senior Fellow Robert Pondiscio, which is chock full of great analyses like this:
“School board elections have long been ripe for reform. In many places, balloting is ‘off-cycle,’ occurring in May, not Election Day in November, when every other national, state, and local race is contested. The timing decreases voter turnout and favors organized interests, particularly teachers unions. I saw this in my ill-fated campaign.
“But it was the hours of sports and entertainment that really caught me off-guard. One friend, a veteran school superintendent who has run three different upstate school districts, describes the practice of scheduling activities to lure the most engaged and favorably disposed families into schools on the day of the budget vote as ‘a well-hidden secret in plain sight’ and a ‘nearly universal’ school district practice. Colleagues who teach in other districts confirmed that their schools too, have sports, concerts, and other activities scheduled the day of the budget vote.”
It needs a legislative fix. No election - local or not - should be scheduled to convenience one interest at the expense of the general public.
The Empire Strikes Back
Not unexpectedly, the unions are girding their loins for their fight against the flurry of education choice programs sweeping the country. They are not content to let elected officials do their job. In Nebraska they are taking their cause to the ballot box because with the ability to buy expensive and misleading ads they have a shot - albeit a long one - at turning people off, whereas they don’t stand a chance with policymakers who are committed to change. The challenge doesn’t bother the law’s biggest champion, Nebraska State Senator Lou Ann Linehan, who has been passionate about this program since before she ran for office.
“The teachers’ union is not focused on students or outcomes. Their only focus is protecting their monopoly, which is failing countless families and students. It is unbelievable how willing they are to mislead, distort, and too often just lie. Nebraskans have had enough,” says Senator Linehan.
The Nebraska teachers union should take a page out of their NC comrades and drop the lawsuit challenging education freedom for parents before it gets any further, particularly since teachers are among the many who send their children to non-public schools!
Meet you in Piazza!
This week’s episode of in Piazza features US Senator and Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy and Laura Cassidy, the founder of Louisiana Key Academy in Baton Rouge, a charter school network that uses modern science to detect and educate students with dyslexia. Both medical doctors, the Cassidys and I talked about what it would be like if we used science more to help students learn, along with several other great issues. Let’s go! Andiamo in Piazza!
Congrats to all who accomplished much in their education this year - parents, too! The summer days may be upon us but there is no lull in sight.
Be active and be vigilant. Thanks for reading - Jeanne
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