Primary Schools

Quick post about an event taking place today in Washington, D.C. (can’t believe I’m missing it!).  The Forum for Education and Democracy (read their mission statement here—it’s amazing) is hosting a briefing called “Rethinking Pre-K and Kindergarten Education” at the Capitol Visitors’ Center. Here’s a description of the event from their website:

An intensive focus on academic instruction has transformed kindergarten in the past decade but has not produced a generation of successful and healthy children. On the contrary, mounting evidence suggests that it has backfired, contributing to increased behavioral and learning problems, retention, and expulsion. Developmentally appropriate and proven play-based practices that build a strong foundation for lifelong literacy, numeracy, initiative, and creativity are being abandoned because of policies favoring didactic and narrowly test-driven programs. It is time to rethink and redirect the current approaches. More

I've always found it ironic that D.C., the home of our nation’s government, has one of the lowest performing public school systems in the country.  Beginning in 2004, in response to this crisis, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program began awarding scholarships of up to $7,500 a year for over 1,700 public school students to attend private schools. Last year, research by the Department of Education concluded that there were no significant differences in the test scores of children who received the vouchers and attended private schools versus those who applied but did not receive them and attended public schools. So this one-of-a-kind federally funded program is now on the chopping block as Congress’ 2009 omnibus spending bill stipulates that any future funding (beyond the 2009-2010 school year) will require re-authorization by Congress as well as legislation by the District of Columbia. (Unlikely to happen at all, much less in under a year).

As you can imagine, many people are up in arms about this decision, and accuse Congressional democrats of preventing children from getting a good education. Personally, I think Congress is making the right move here. I have never supported voucher programs, and am glad President Obama’s administration clearly favors funding charter schools over vouchers. My reasoning can be summed up in one simple phrase: Public money for public schools. Period. There’s no question that many of our public schools are failing, and that our children deserve better, but sucking money out of public schools and giving it to private ones is not going to fix the problem. If private schools (many of whom are affiliated with wealthy and powerful religious organizations) are looking to increase enrollment and want to diversify their student body, then they should be responsible for raising funds privately to offer scholarships to students in need. In the meantime, we need to keep public school reform on the top of our nation’s priority list, which means keeping federal education funds where they belong. More

On this year’s Top 10 list of “Our Biggest Problems That Need To Be Fixed ASAP,” public school reform should fall somewhere near the top. To me, the word education is synonymous with change, possibility, and hope. So any time (and every time!) I hear about public schools that work, my ears perk up, I stop what I’m doing, and I pay attention.

My latest interest (read: obsession) is with KIPP,the Knowledge is Power Program. Originally founded in 1994 by Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin with the opening of a middle school in Houston, KIPP has become a network of 66 public schools that serve over 16,000 students across 19 states and in the District of Columbia. KIPP schools are free, enrollment is based on a lottery system, and students typically come from under-served communities with 80% qualifying for free or reduced lunch. What’s most remarkable about KIPP is its proven track record of success: More than 80% of KIPP alumni have gone to college!

So how on earth did they do that?! More