[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: LIberal vs Liberal on Education

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
LIberal vs Liberal on Education
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1227497818.shtml


   We on the right get an occasional chuckle when competing factions of
   liberals go at each other. Maybe we have another one coming, [1]P.S.
   Minnesota vs [2]Growth & Justice.
   P.S. Minnesota is "a coalition of education & parent groups who
   believe in educating our children to lead in the 21st century."
   Earlier this year, they said we needed to increase K-12 Education
   funding by $2 billion to meet the needs of the 21st century. They came
   close to saying that it would in fact be enough.
   But hold on! Growth & Justice now says that their "smart investment"
   approach only needs $1 billion in new spending, some of which is
   actually spent in post-secondary programs. Don't these people talk to
   each other?
   Growth & Justice's work seems the more robust effort with a 32 page
   report, self-described as "an important contribution to the education
   policy discussion in this state." Even if it was, I regret to tell its
   dozens of contributors that politically, this is Dead on Arrival, even
   if the DFL had total control. For no matter what the facts say, no
   matter how obvious the results would be, favors must be granted,
   faction by faction. You know, like giving the Minneapolis Public
   Schools substantially more money, despite substantially less results.
   Or, keeping all those redundant MnScu campuses open as a rural jobs
   program.
   Their report is flashy and classy, but riddled with non-sequiturs and
   unfounded assumptions. Still, it does make some interesting points
   like this:

     [Our ] education system is still organized, regulated, and funded
     according to a disjointed model of Pre-K, K-12, and higher
     education that sets up competition over resouces - while leaving no
     coherent, evidence-based framework for achieving lasting results
     for the student.

   The obvious solution is to let the parents make those decisions,
   student by student, as [3]The Big Stink recently observed. It works in
   Europe, right?
   But unlike the current model and future model Growth & Justice
   envisions, such a system doesn't need thousands of experts, like the
   ones who crafted this report. No, they advocate for still more
   experts. Is anyone surprised?
   I have a counter-proposal, since the Legislature clearly won't have
   the money to do any system wide changes for at least two years.
   Instead, implement and fully fund the Growth & Justice plan in St.
   Paul. Implement the European model in Minneapolis, so that parents are
   economically freed to choose the best public, private, or charter
   school for their children. And let's see what happens.

References

   1. http://www.psminnesota.org/
   2. http://www.growthandjustice.org/
   3. http://freedomdogs.com/news-archive-mainmenu-2/education/3336-public-education-the-fantasy.html