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Bush Admin Disavows Own Study Showing Charter Schools Score Worse than Public Schools. Who Needs Facts When You Have an Agenda?

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 12:26pm.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

Students at charter schools performed significantly worse than students at traditional public schools, according to a study released yesterday by the Department of Education. The research was based on results from the "nation's report card" - the National Assessment of Educational Progress test.

"After adjusting for student characteristics, charter school mean scores in reading and mathematics were lower, on average, than those for public noncharter schools," the study concluded.

Republicans have been strong proponents of charter schools, which they made sure to promote through the ironically titled No Child Left Behind Act. Sure enough, the Bush Administration was quick to criticize its own study in a statement yesterday, in which Education Secretary Margaret Spellings continued to express her support for the now debunked theory that charter schools are better than public schools.

The repudiation of the study is especially suspect given the Administration's insistence on using frequent testing to evaluate schools, a staple of No Child Left Behind. "If you teach a child how to read, they will pass the test," Bush said recently. "Accountability is crucial, in my judgment, for making sure the public school system meets the important goals of our society."

This certainly isn't the only example of Bush refusing to face facts and move on. From Iraq to Medicare, his policies simply don't work. When will he learn that "staying the course" won't help if you are heading in the wrong direction?

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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charter schools

Submitted by Thom Markham on Thu, 08/24/2006 - 9:31am.
Charter schools are not an attempt to privatize a public institution; in fact, they are public institutions. They are a way of introducing some semblance of freedom into a system that does not value freedom of choice. The US school system operates like a top down Soviet hierarchy; it is not responsive to parents or citizens but instead is run by bureaucracies intent on telling all of us "what is good for us." If you've been a parent, you know how much power you feel you have over your child's education--virtually none. This is not a progressive view, and enitrely misses the point of charter schools--to empower families to educate their children in ways consistent with their values. Those values, by the way, are not always conservative. Many charter schools offer a holistic, commmunity oriented version of education. Democrats should support that vision.
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No To Privatizing Public Institutions

Submitted by crackerjack on Thu, 08/24/2006 - 1:03am.
That goes for, among others, education, health care, welfare, railroads, parks and even prisons. Fiirst of all privatization isn't carried out for the purpose of improving the services provided, but for ideological reasons. Leave nothing in the commons except perhaps for the police department and the armed forces. Why this mad dash towards privatization? There must be something about collective endeavors that scares the hell out of the powers that be.. Maybe they see in every collective the potential for some sort of popular uprising. Who knows, but what's for sure is that when privatization occurs, we the people suffer. That' because with privatization greed displaces need as the driving force. When it's profitability that counts, who cares whether or not a privatized service makes good on it's supposed social mission... What'll stop privatization? We the people changing the world, that's what. .
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Charter Schools

Submitted by sulphurdunn on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 5:03pm.
The issue of public vs. private (including charter) schools was never about accountability or performance. It remains a scheme to funnel public money and resources into privatized education. At least with charter schools there is some measure for comparison since they are still required to meet public standards. Voucher schemes, however, are designed to subsidize private schools with public money, and always exclude these schools from the very accountability and performance measures imposed upon public institutions that are used as a rationale for diverting their resources. Imagine that.
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