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'Private' isn't a guarantee of 'better'
Insisting that our children are not commodities subject to the vagaries of the "free market," Rev. Darby reminds people what happened the last time last time the state made people free-market commodities.
By Joseph A. Darby
I find it ironic that the latest voucher initiative came while a state Department of Education panel was considering the fate of some public schools that have been rated as "unsatisfactory" for so long that they faced the possibility of being taken over by the state.
That review is a part of the legally established testing process to hold all public schools "accountable" and to assure that parents know which public schools are "failing" based upon the results of that testing standard. Our state has gone to great lengths to provide a standard of public school accountability. There is no standard and objective means, however, of evaluating performance, quality or equity in private schools, which are not answerable to the state of South Carolina on how the public money they would receive through vouchers would be spent.
As a result, parents who fear that their public schools are inadequate and who would choose the option of a voucher-supplemented private school education would have no objective way of knowing whether the private schools they're considering would do a better or worse job of educating their children or whether their children would receive fair and equitable treatment.
One could rightfully argue that some private schools have excellent track records when it comes to long-term academic and professional achievement, but those track records are usually either a matter of "word of mouth" or advertising. "Word of mouth" on private school quality may not reach all segments of our community, and advertising can sometimes be deceptive, making schools that operate on the margins of acceptability appear to be sound.
"Word of mouth" and advertising may be good free market tools for those shopping for cars or cheeseburgers, but they're bad ways of assuring that our children are well-educated and well-nurtured.
I hope our legislators keep that in mind, for that's the "flip side" of the shrill, well-crafted rhetoric about "failed government schools." That rhetoric never notes that private is not necessarily better, that there are quality public schools and that some struggling public schools are the products of our state's chronic and capricious failure to adequately and equitably fund all schools in our state beyond the dubious and hypocritical standard of a "minimally adequate education."
Many well-meaning citizens see vouchers for private schools, broad school choice and the establishment of more charter schools (which a friend of mine calls "private-public schools") as the best options for our children's educational future. If they honestly hold that belief, then they should demand legislative support of what's really needed for full, transparent and objective "choice." Full, transparent and objective "choice" begins with equitable funding of every public school and every school district in our state.
When every public school operates on a level playing field in terms of facilities, resources, equipment and faculty, then parents will actually have the "choice" of quality public schools or the private schools that appeal to them as good alternatives. Those who push for vouchers should embrace that idea - unless they fear that equitably funded, quality public schools will be bad for the private school industry.
Those who embrace vouchers and full, transparent and objective "choice" should also demand something else of our legislators - the establishment of an objective means to evaluate and publicize the performance of every private school in our state, as is done for every public school in our state. Without some standard, there can never be full, transparent and objective "choice."
Some may say that such a standard flies in the face of "free market" principles and competition, but our children are not commodities subject to the vagaries of the "free market." The last time our state made people free-market commodities, it was called, "slavery," and it wasn't a good idea.
The Rev. Joseph A. Darby is senior pastor at Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
— The Rev. Joseph A. Darby
Herald-Journal
2007-05-13
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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