Yesterday I posted about "School Choice Week" (school vouchers) and two ensuing pieces of legislation related to said issue. The attached article deals with the same topic, specifically within Alabama and it's Accountability Act. It's a sobering read, at least for me, as I value education and feel all individuals have a right to a quality learning experience both K-12 and college.
That means J.R. is trapped in a failing school whose scarce resources will only dwindle as students with the ability to leave the school transfer out. As National School Choice Week is celebrated this week, state lawmakers will tout the Alabama Accountability Act as a shining example of school choice. But for students such as J.R., there is no choice.
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It is clear that, under the Alabama Accountability Act, “choice” depends on how much your family makes and where you live. It discriminates against impoverished students in Alabama’s Black Belt and elsewhere. That’s why the SPLC filed a federal lawsuit to stop it.
The failure of this misguided experiment is clear. The state reported in September that only 719 students used the act to leave a “failing” school for a public school in the same district. Fifty-two children used the act’s tax credit to transfer to a private school.
And, only 18 students in the entire state transferred from one school district into another for 2013-14. That’s not enough to fill a single classroom.
Under the Alabama Accountability Act, non-failing schools aren’t even required to admit a child from a failing school. They can, for example, refuse admission because the student’s failing school didn’t teach him to read or perform math adequately.
It’s a perverse interpretation of “school choice.”
But these failures and dead ends are not surprising. This act was concocted behind closed doors by lawmakers unwilling to even consult the state superintendent of education because they feared he would try to stop it. It was slipped into an existing bill and rammed through the Legislature in one day. The average Alabamian had little chance to voice concerns.
Maybe if lawmakers had taken the time to listen, they would have heard about the Black Belt school where students read novels from transparencies on an overhead projector because there aren’t enough copies for the class.
Maybe they would have heard about the science lab where the teacher shows a single microscope to the students because there aren’t enough to go around.
Maybe they would have heard about the class where students can’t take their textbooks home to study because there aren’t enough books for the class.
Of course, you can only hear these stories if you’re willing to listen.
No Choice for Many Students | Teaching Tolerance
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