The Educational Model of the Future

Hi, it’s Dave with another 21st Century Education blog. Today, I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately - the future of Public Education.
Today, I read an article in the Hartford Courant about parochial schools (schools run by churches) in Connecticut by the Roman Catholic Church. In the past four years, the number of students attending these schools has decreased from 18 thousand to 14 thousand, or about 20%. In 1965, or 50 years ago, there were 54 thousand students in these schools. The total population of school-aged children has gone up in the past 50 years, so why are these schools struggling to attract students?
It turns out that the major decrease in enrollment at the parochial schools, as well as the independent schools (aka private, non-religious schools) has been caused by students attending the charter and magnet schools. The first charter school in the country was founded in 1991, or the year I graduated from High School. Prior to that, parents had the choice of sending their kids to the public schools, the independent schools or the parochial schools. So, my parents took me to visit one of each type of school, before ultimately sending me to my public school. Now, though, parents have other options instead of just these three - charter schools and magnet schools among the choices. Here is the differences between them:
Charter Schools - run by a private organization (CMO, or Charter Management Organization); take 10% of the school’s income to pay the CMO for running the school (Management Fee); abide by the state’s laws in hiring (teachers need to have state certification), but can get permission to bypass certain laws; usually non-unionized, unless the CMO approves it (which is rare - this allows salaries to be lower); general curriculum; required to test students with state-approved standardized tests; admission to the school is (in CT, at least) by lottery; can expell students for any reason, which allows the school to keep only those students who will increase their test scores;
Magnet Schools - run by a RESC (Regional Education Service Center, or a non-profit, semi-public organization approved by the state, but not run by the government); must abide by state laws with respect to hiring; unionized (as any public school district - this allows salaries to be higher, but not quite as high as the public schools); each school has a specific curriculum which attracts certain types of students (hence the label Magnet); curriculum is based on the magnet school’s mission (i.e. art schools have an art-based curriculum); required to test students with state-approved standardized tests; admission to the school is (in CT, at least) by lottery; can expel students for any reason, which allows the school to keep only those students who will increase their test scores;
Parochial Schools - run by a church (usually Catholic); tuition-based (no funding from the state or town); lower tuition (about $5000 or less per student per year); not required to use standardized tests; non-unionized; teachers do not need to be certified by the state (hence lower salaries); design their own curriculum, usually including religion classes; admission to school based on acceptance by school or church - usually accept those who are members of the church without exception; can expel students, but usually don’t due to tuition being paid;
Independent Schools - run by a non-profit; tuition-based (no funding from the state or town); higher tuition (about $10000 or more per student per year); not required to use standardized tests; non-unionized; teachers do not need to be certified by the state (hence lower salaries); design their own curriculum; admission to school based on acceptance by school - usually accept students who are a good fit for the school; can expel students, but usually don’t due to tuition being paid;
Public Schools - run by a town or regional district; required to follow state laws regarding certification; required to test students using state-approved tests; cannot choose their students - if a child lives in the district, the school must accept them; required to support special needs students in the district, regardless of what school they attend (public, magnet or charter, only; not required for those attending parochial schools or some independent schools;

The major difference between the schools is who pays. In public districts, students are supported by the town/district taxes. Sometimes, the state will support them, but in recent years, Governor Malloy has cut funding for these schools, requiring increased local taxes and cutting of programs. In parochial and independent schools, they are supported by tuition with no state funding. This model works like the economy - the better the education, the more the tuition a family pays. Unfortunately, these schools have had to raise tuition or conolidate schools because of decreased enrollment. This has also affected the income of those working for these schools. Magnet schools are funded by the RESC, which is allowed to act as a non-profit, collecting donations and state funding. Once again, these schools have seen increasing enrollment, since they cost the families nothing to have their children attend, but decreased funding from the state has resulted in cost-cutting measures in faculty and staff, similar to the public school districts.
Charter schools, however, have the best of all worlds. Their enrollment is going up, similar to the magnet schools, resulting in increased strain on their resources. However, currently, the political climate has allowed for thier state-funding to be increased. The law allows for a payment from the state of $17000 per student. And, with the faculty and staff being non-unionized, the salaries paid by the school are much lower. Add to that the 10% that goes to the CMO (the schools are non-profit, but the CMO can be, and usually is for-profit), and we have an educational model that can allow for CMOs to make almost unlimited money. These CMO investors then can donate to election campaigns, influencing the lawmakers, which allows for more CMO-friendly laws.
It appears that the future of education lies in these publicly-funded but privately-run charter schools. It is to the point that the type of creative education I had as a child will soon be in danger of going extinct. Some charter schools are not run by CMOs, but those that are have their curriculum controlled by both the state and the investors in the CMO. If this doesn’t change, we are in danger of losing our jobs and economic power to Third World nations. We need to allow the charter schools to create their own curriculum, and not be beholden to the standarized tests that are forced upon our children every year. Until this happens, the charter school experiment will fail, but there will be no other schools for our kids to go to. We need CMOs and charter schools that allow kids to learn to love learning.
I hope to, over the next few blogs, to outline my vision for a state-approved charter school which is in charge of its own curriculum. One where students will be allowed to creatively apply their academic learning to an area of their own interest. This school, which I hope to create, is called the ACCESS School (A CATS Charter for Exceptional Student Success), and it will be based on a curriculm that allows the students to become truly “college and career ready."
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for joining me for another 21st Century Education blog!