POST EVENT REPORT: Taking Down the Wall around School Choice, Brick by Brick

Summary of Education Revolution Event with John Tillman, Michael Medved, Dick Morris, Denny Hastert – Jan. 27, 2011

Every family, regardless of income, should be allowed to make decisions about where their children go to school. Increasing choice at every level would improve the education system for everyone involved: students, teachers, parents and taxpayers. Last week we celebrated and emphasized the power of choice during National School Choice Week. In Illinois, the finale to the events of the week was the Education Revolution panel featuring John Tillman, Michael Medved, Dick Morris and former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert hosted by WIND 560 AM.

The solutions and challenges discussed at the event shed much light on the important topic of how school choice is the great social challenge of our time. John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute served as moderator and commented, ?I hope we all see some day very soon when the Berlin wall around education, locking kids into failing schools, generation after generation, is taken down brick by brick.? See John Tillman?s summary comments below.

Here are some of the other bricks discussed during the event:

Teacher Accountability
In Illinois, it?s virtually impossible to let go of underperforming teachers. Collective bargaining agreements require schools to grant tenure to teachers just years after their hire and make relieving poor performing instructors next to impossible. Currently in Illinois, new teachers are offered tenure after three years on the job unless there are serious concerns about their work. After tenure, districts face various legal challenges in attempting to dismiss an underperforming teacher. See John Tillman?s comments on teacher accountability here.

To improve education in America, we need to find a way to make it so that excellent teachers are rewarded and poor teachers are dismissed. See Dick Morris?s comments on hiring and firing teachers here. Illinois has a chance to change this; legislators are discussing legislation that would reform the current tenure process. Read about its potential here.

Education Spending and Costs per Student
One of the most promising means of reducing the growth of state education costs is school choice. School choice saves public funds by providing parents some, or all, of private school costs. If families choose to send their children to private schools, it saves public funds. In 2008, Illinois spent $10,353 per student all on public education, up 14 percent from just 2 years previous. Illinois could potentially save money by allowing students to choose private schools through voucher programs and education tax credits.  See John Tillman and Denny Hastert?s comments on cost per student here.

Chicago versus Illinois
Chicago?s high school graduation rate is just 51 percent. Outside of Chicago, the high school graduation rate is 83.3 percent, higher than any other state in Education Week?s widely read graduation rate rankings. Illinois would have led the nation in Education Week?s 2008 rankings of state graduation rates if Chicago students had performed at the same level as students from the rest of the state. Chicago students are clearly showing they can compete, but there is a clear problem with education in Illinois. See John Tillman?s comments on fixing one of the great social challenges of Chicago here .

One proven solution to this social challenge is Charter schools. Lifting the cap on charter schools in Chicago and throughout the state and reforming the charter school authorization process would allow school choice to work its magic and improve the educational achievement of every Illinois student.

Home-Schooling As a Bottom-Up Approach to School Choice
Current research has shown that children taught at home perform better than their public school counterparts?in a 2009 study by the National Home Education Research Institute found that the national standardized achievement score average for home-schooled students ranged from the 84th percentile for language, math, and social studies to the 89th percentile for reading. Home-schooling and virtual learning  options offer flexibility and choice for over-scheduled students and families. See Michael Medved?s comments on home-schooling here.

Below, see the photos taken by WIND 560 AM from the event:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.