🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 13 May 1994, Lowell Herr wrote:

> On Thu, 12 May 1994, Susan J. O'donovan wrote:
>
> > Public schools are, by and large, a failure.  Until parents have the
> > choices offered by voucher systems, "parental involvement" is a sham.
>
> I wish I could recall the reference in Scientific American (within the
> last three years) but in the article parental involvement is vital and it
> has nothing to do with voucher systems.  It has all to do with getting
> students ready for school.  Having taught in both public and private
> institutions and attended both as a student there are many reasons why
> public schools are having so many problems at this stage in our history.
>
> Lowell
>

Lowell, I semi-agree with you and I see I didn't make myself clear.
Parental involvement at home is crucial.  I was referring to the
"Parental Involvement" sought by the Project Appleseed director:
donations of time (to the schools) and money (to Project Appleseed).
This, I think, would be pointless.  Parents and students alike are captives
 of the public school system (unlike the
very political leaders from which Project Appleseed seeks Federal funds;
they send their kids to private schools).  [Whew- pardon the clumsiness of
that last sentence.  Hope my old English teacher doesn't see it.]  No
wonder there is little parental involvement with the schools.  It is time
parents were given some real freedom to choose the best for their
children.  This will be fought tooth and nail by the educational
beaurocracy and the teachers' union bosses, but I think we can no longer
ignore the failure of this system.

I also agree with your point that the causes of the decline are complex.

I hasten to add that the teachers in public schools are just as talented
as those in private schools; they are not the problem.