Issues: Education

First issue forum attended by Ogre today is the Education forum. There's five panelists and I'll be adding to this post as they are speaking. Isn't live blogging fun? This post will update throughout the morning until after the forum, which will end at approximately 11:30am EST.

This forum promises to provide information about the (very broken) education system in North Carolina. People on the panel include George Leef, Director of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy; Terry Stoops, Policy Analyst, John Locke Foundation; Jason Bennett, Policy Analyst at the Civitas Institute; Lindalyn Kakadelis, Director of the North Carolina Education Alliance; and Bob Luddy, Founder, Franklin Academy & St. Thomas More Academy. George Leef was commenting specifically on higher education:

Was in the education field until he got tired of grade inflation and pressure to pass students, no matter their ability. His focus is on answering the question, "Are students and parents getting their money's worth out of the education system?"

National Assessment of Adult literacy (came out last fall) shows 31% of COLLEGE GRADUATES can be regarded as proficient in "prose literacy." 14% of GRADUATES have only "basic literacy" -- about a 6th grade level. 3% of GRADUATES were below literacy -- below grade school for reading and writing ability.

There can be no question whatsoever that there is a significant "dumbing down" in the education system, especially in the higher education system.

Many schools have the "faculty-student non-agression pact." Faculty gives students low expections, little demand, and high grades. In return, students expect very little time and effort from the faculty.

A lot of college graduates today, because of their lack of skills and abilities, are taking traditional high school jobs. Fed government surveys of jobs show 17% of office clerks have college degrees. 19% of theatre ushers. 37% of flight attendants.

We are wasting a phenomenal amount of money on higher education. We do not so much have "higher education," as longer education.

We need empirical test that will show who is actually learning skills from different departments and schools.

Terry Stoops is a Policy Analyst with the John Locke Foundation. His personal issue, where he has a lot of experience and research information about is growth in school construction:

School construction is politicized. Current systems show how the government has a monopoly and shows the shortcomings currently in place. Added 155,000 new students in the last 10 years. Projections show another 155,000 students in the next 10 years. $5.7 billion on bonds (DEBT) for 384 new schools, just part of $9 billion spent.

Schools use various tactics to take money from people. "For the Children" STILL Works, even when it's simply not true. The districts convince the voters to just give money because children will suffer. Schools will try and get voters consent, ask for bonds, and if they don't get bonds, they raise taxes.

Schools build the exact same way now, when there is growth, as compared to the way they build schools when there's not growth. Schools need to consider a different way to build schools. Schools absolutely fail to adjust or change any costs or consider any way to innovate or cut costs. They COULD build schools for less than half what they are spending now -- private schools manage to do it right now.

Various other scare tactics are used to convince people to spend more money: the "rusty nail" argument (that if we don't spend enough, the school will be inferior); "decline of civilization" -- if we don't spend enough, we'll have no art in civilization; "childhood obesity" argument says that if we don't buy a pool and 12 gyms, all children will get fat; "Pay now or pay more later" argument says if you don't pay enough now, it will cost a lot more later; "academic performance" argument -- completely debunked by research: air quality, noise, and lighting are nearly the only environmental factors; "teacher recruitment" says you have to have beautiful facilities to have the best teachers -- most teachers are hired somewhere other than at the schools.

Next up is Jason Bennett, Policy Analyst at the Civitas Institute. He was introduced as having a "real provocative presentation." The states show much more success than the federal government's rules. Is this reality, or is it the states trying to make themselves look better?

There's no way to compare tests across states. 43% increase in private school attendance. Homeschooling is growing by thousands of percents. The state perceives they must prove to citizens that the state is doing well.

Comparing the NC standard tests to a national standardized test, you can see that the student's passing rate decreases from 78% passing to just 46% passing. Is this really better testing?

No Child Left Behind -- increases accountability on the state level. But the state, despite the federal standards, gets to determine what is basically a passing grade. According to the state, 88% of 8th graders are proficient or better in reading, while the federal test shows just 27% proficient.

The message is: we're not really doing as well as the state is reporting: we must hold our state accountable for what they are doing.

Next forum speaker is Lindalyn Kakadelis, Director of the North Carolina Education Alliance. Her passion is K-12 education. She has been to counties in North Carolina where 70% of the adults cannot read about the 5th grade level. That is not going to be fixed by a policy or public paper -- it's going to be fixed by relationships.

As an education reformer, you have to have the attitude that you will NEVER give up.

The mission of the education alliance is simple: empowering people involved in the K-12 education system. They publish reports on K-12 education, they manage a website, they go to meetings across the state to inform people about K-12 education policy.

Primary focus is student achievement to ensure the focus of the school is to actually EDUCATE students. Their #2 issue is teacher quality -- the most important factor in education. #3 is funding and #4 is education freedom -- choice -- it is the largest monopoly in the country and people simply do not have a choice.

Education reform is NOT going to happen from within -- only with external pressure -- which REQUIRES school choice. "We have to get to the place where the money follows the student."

Attempt to gather people together -- Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats, blacks, whites, hispanics -- PEOPLE who care about school choice. The idea is to gather people together who agree about school choice -- and perhaps nothing else.

I am not going to retire until we have school choice in North Carolina

Charlotte-Mecklenburg should be ashamed that they only graduate 37% of their African-American students.

They have school choice in Florida, and it works. The people who support choice found out how to get people interested by building a strong, diverse coalition across all boundaries that can oppose and beat teacher's unions.

Parents for Education Freedom in North Carolina went public last night. Their ONLY issue is school choice. What can you do to support school choice?

The judicial races are critical to ensuring that the North Carolina Constitution is upheld -- and school choice is constitutional. There are 4 seats on the NC Supreme Court this year. The NC Court of Appeals has 2 seats up for election this year as well.

Check your legislators' votes on the charter school law. Check to see if they are working to raise the cap on charter schools -- no matter what they say. School choice laws HAVE to go through the general assembly.

She will come to any organizational meeting where you might be discussing education. Invite her and she will come give the facts to the people -- but she can't do it alone.

The last speaker is Bob Luddy, the Founder of Franklin Academy & St. Thomas More Academy Charter Schools. The primary problem with schools is that they are a monopoly and a bureaucracy. We NEED innovation in the school systems. Parents want choice -- but cannot get that in schools.

Charter schools simply work, and they cost less money. The schools, take average kids and get them to do superior work. 1,164 applicants for 118 slots -- people WANT charter schools -- while the school board voted 9-3 to oppose opening any new charter schools in that county.

They want a safe environment. Every government school has police, but the charter schools do not -- because they simply do not need them. They built 4 buildings for 50% of the cost that the government builds them.

Kids can have a school (not an elitist school, since they admit by lottery) that's safe and cheaper to build and that parents want -- but the education establishment and government does not want to allow that to happen.

One teacher was asked why she liked teaching at the charter school:

98% of my time is spend teaching, 2% disciplining.

$9 million from government (from the lottery) will only build "1/2 a school," while the charter school could build enough schools for 1200 students. For Wake county, it costs literally twice as much for the county to educate each student than charter schools in the county -- but the county still will not allow more charter schools.

Restaurants, churches, groceries stores have NO problem adjusting to the "massive growth" that the schools claim. Charter schools are capped at 100 in the state and there is massive opposition to raising or removing that cap, despite all evidence that charter schools are better. That cap NEEDS to be removed.

Good schools are not repeatable -- each one is unique and can be developed separately. Those who do not participate in the public school system should get $2,500 unearned educational tax credit -- which would not actually cost the state money because the counties are already spending as much as $8,000 per year on each student.

Every child and every parent in North Carolina who wants a choice should have that choice.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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