Twitter Book Club: @DianeRavitch (2010) The Death and Life of the Great American School System - Ch 7

Choice: The Story of an Idea

"the concept of school choice found a home among free-market-oriented foundations and think tanks, such as (cont) http://tl.gd/7b5u95less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I am still a big supporter of school choice initiatives. Perhaps it is because the data used to show they are no better than traditional schools are not the data I see as being a good indicator of how to answer this question. I don't like what has become of the school choice movement but I still hold onto the original vision by people like Albert Shanker and believe we can come back to it. The damn honest truth is there are students for whom traditional schools are not well suited. I have seen many good charter schools and other schools of choice who provide the kind of learning environment these kids need, learning environments that those who uphold the status quo would never let exist within the walls of their schools. I think Seymour Papert summed it up best in this clip from 1995:

"Cyber-charters, which offered online instruction to students at home, were receiving full payment for each (cont) http://tl.gd/7bqnapless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@DianeRavitch Curious, have you read Disrupting Class? What is your take on Christiansen & Horn's assessment?less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"When a school is successful, it is hard to know which factor was most important or if it was a combination of factors." Diane Ravitchless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Certainly schools can improve and learn from one another, but school improvements—if they are (cont) http://tl.gd/7bqu6eless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Side Conversation with the author:

Axiom for the day: No school ever improved by closing it.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch I am not sure that statement is true. I can think of plenty of terrible schools where no school would be an improvement.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj Firing entire staff with no evaluation is wrong. Who put them there? District leadership is responsible.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@anderscj Are the schools terrible because lowest performing kids were dumped there? Or are the teachers cruel and stupid? Who hired them?less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch what about the voucher school you cite in Death & Life run by a para & a custodian? Better fixed or closed?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj That is not a public school and is a good example of why vouchers don't work.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch Yes, but you said, " No school ever improved by closing it," not "No public school..."less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@dianeravitch can't this also be said about the needs of students in traditional schools? Is meeting the (cont) http://tl.gd/7cf859less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Let me repost that:

@dianeravitch can't this also be said about the needs of students in traditional schools? Is meeting the learning needs of some worth ignoring the needs of others?

"The EPI authors said that the question to be answered was not whether charter schools, on average, outperform regular public schools, 'but rather whether the underperformance of some charter schools is a price worth paying for the overperformance of others.'"

@DianeRavitch How can we know that a student who performed well in a charter school would or wouldn't perform (cont) http://tl.gd/7cfcutless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Another unanswered question that I believe is worth everyone considering with regard to Charters.

"Charter schools enroll the most motivated students in poor communities, those whose parents push them to (cont) http://tl.gd/7cfirtless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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