The debate over merging two Orange County elementary schools – one high-performing and one low-performing – is revealing exactly which group of people feels entitled to power and control. Is it the parents, or is it the system? Those who stubbornly protect the status quo public education system like to say they’re doing it for the children. The following quote from the latest story about this disagreement includes a revealing comment from teacher Mary Purcell.
“When a choice of schools makes parents feel entitled to have their children attend a school with small numbers of poor children, then choice runs contrary to the goals of public education,” Purcell said. “Exempting a school from redistricting for socioeconomic balance feeds into that sense of entitlement.”
It’s clear Purcell believes the system should be in control of children. I disagree. Only when parents are given the right to make choices about a service they are paying for will we see more than minor improvement here and there. Parental choice isn’t about rich versus poor. Nor is educational achievement, and I say that as a child who grew up poor. Choice will infuse the system with natural market forces. Parents, regardless of income, will support what is working for them and they will abandon what is not. It’s that prospect – abandonment of what isn’t working – that supporters of the status quo are trying to fend off. Parents shouldn’t be let off the hook either. With choice comes responsibility. That means being involved, knowing what’s going on, and helping teachers whose hearts are in the right place but who are currently stymied by a system that can’t possibly work for all kids.