Publicly Educating

If “public education,” per se, exists to teach citizenry of the republic, civic virtue and skills required in being a contributing member of society, then it doesn’t have to be isolated to the hard and fast public school system we have now, though that is what we’ve traditionally used as a model. Accepting this premise opens the discussion to a wide range of alternatives when addressing the youth of our community, writ large.
While taking the opportunity to visit with all of the traditional public schools in the area, I have tried to meet with other “public school” constituencies such as charter schools, vocational schools and alternative schools. I find this to be a very enlightening experience about some of the other methods that are out there. I’ve written previously about my trip to Options for Youth in Carmichael and the venue it is for at-risk youth. Over the last week, I’ve made it to Golden Valley Charter School in Orangevale (where they practice the Waldorf method) and the California Montessori Project in Carmichael. Each school demonstrates a passion for teaching children and they exude a certain confidence about their methods, results and community. It’s not just the teachers and the administration who are proud of their school—their parents are enthusiastic in their support and even hold board positions to make the school a success. I find that these parents have found what works best for their children and their needs and are anxiously engaged in any area they can be useful.
This is a marked progression in California educational policy, on a state level, and an improvement on a district level. As parents are tendered more options, they have a greater opportunity to find success. And it just doesn’t apply to those parents who utilize these charters as an alternative. The parents and teachers and administrators are incentivised to make sure that the traditional model works well for the students who choose to stay in their classrooms. In other words, parents—not arbitrary boundaries or bureaucrats—choose where students are to learn. They have ultimate control. And having the power doesn’t mean destruction of a good system; it means the improvement of a good system.
This is inline with something my grandfather used to always say, “The best thing that happened to Chevy was Ford.”