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Choice: The right thing for public schools, too
By:
Mr. Jim Waters
Opponents of school choice usually base their arguments on a professed interest
in protecting public education from the “evils” of private institutions.
Mythical musings abound. “Encouraging school choice will take badly needed funds
away from public education,” say some. Others worry that “poor and disabled
children will be left behind as private schools will recruit only the cream of
the crop.” Neither, of course, is true.
Now, Kentucky’s education establishment is aiming its increasingly overt bias
against liberty at public schools. Administrators in Breathitt County, an
underperforming county school system, are refusing to renew a longstanding
transfer agreement with the Jackson Independent district. Education Commissioner
Gene Wilhoit has decreed that per-pupil funding transfers be terminated between
these two school districts. As a result, many of the 381 students who currently
live in the county district but attend Jackson Independent, will be forced to
return to the Breathitt County system.
Like every other public school, Jackson depends on state funding to provide an
education for these students. If Breathitt County’s decision stands, the Jackson
schools could be forced to close, as nearly two-thirds of its students are
transfers who live in the county district.
Ironic, isn’t it, that the monies set aside for public-school students are known
as Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funds, and yet Jackson
Independent, one of the state’s highest achieving districts, could be denied
such funding and forced to close? Fewer developments could be more tragic.
Forcing a high performing school district in such an economically challenged
region to close should be unacceptable to every educator, parent, taxpayer,
policymaker and student.
“The children in the Eastern Kentucky mountains suffer education deprivation
like no other part of the state,” said Jackson Superintendent Taylor Collins.
Almost every day Collins entertains visits from parents wanting to enroll their
children in his district. Since Collins came to the district 11 years ago,
enrollment has nearly doubled, as Jackson has become one of the most-improved
districts in Kentucky.
The students themselves understand what’s at stake if Breathitt County’s
decision stands.
“It should be about freedom and what’s in the best interest of each child,” said
George Terrizi, 17, a junior at Jackson. “If you get a good education and have
people and teachers like we do here who not only care about you, but are good
teachers, then you’ve got a better chance for a good future.”
Seventh-grader Tyler Barnes, 12, has been attending Jackson since he was in
kindergarten. When asked why he thought the Breathitt County schools had decided
to refuse to renew the transfer agreement, Barnes didn’t hesitate: “Money.” He
also called it “unconstitutional.”
Sadly, the young man is right.
The students also sense that this is an argument about power and control.
“I just don’t understand how somebody can tell me I don’t have the right to stay
here and try to make the choice on where I should go,” said Danielle McIntyre,
16, a junior at Jackson. While McIntyre will be allowed to graduate from Jackson
– provided it’s open next year – she’s concerned about her sister Jessica, 14,
who’s only an eighth-grader.
“Nobody has a right to tell me what’s best for me – especially those who don’t
know anything about me,” McIntyre said. “I don’t think they are in any position
to make a choice about my education and my future.”
Instead of pontificating bad policy from afar, Wilhoit and every other member of
Kentucky’s education establishment should be knocking on Collins’ door to find
out why Jackson is one of only 35 districts in the state that meet all of the
federal “No Child Left Behind” standards.
They should be curious as to how this district motivated and prepared 68 percent
of its graduating class to attend college last year. Kentucky’s average college
attendance rate was only 54 percent; Breathitt County schools equaled 55
percent. Wilhoit also should ask how Jackson Independent achieved these
superlative results while spending nearly $3,000 less per pupil than their
counterparts in the county!
Winston Churchill waxed prophetic when he said, “You can always count on
Americans to do the right thing – after they have tried everything else.”
When it comes to improving our state’s public education system, almost
everything has been tried: More money, desperate experiments, failed reform
policies and yet more funding. It’s now time to do the right thing.
Individual freedom and educational choice have already proven to be effective in
improving public education at Jackson Independent. Allowing Breathitt County
parents the right to choose the school that is best for their children is the
right thing to do.
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