School choice: a reader’s questions

Astute readers may have guessed by now that I am a fan of tapping Arkansas talent for Arkansas things like government positions and education policy. If that is clannish, I can own that. I am not for choosing less qualified Arkansans over better qualified outsiders, but if qualifications are equal, I am going with the Arkansan each and every time. That same philosophy extends to Arkansas newspapers.

A while back I approached the editor of another section of this paper and proposed doing an advice column. I wanted to be the Dear Sugar of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, or perhaps the Carolyn Hax. I would submit to being called Dear Gwennie, like Dear Abby. I proposed this because one of the great joys of writing this opinion column is that I get to interact with a myriad of readers whose stories and personalities are infinitely fascinating, and I am honored to be asked for advice on a multitude of subjects.

I suppose the editor found me not as qualified as other advice columnists, which is justified. I have no psychology degree. But I do have a lot of experience counseling people. It’s one of the many ancillary skills teachers develop on the job in addition to our contracted duties.

So while there’s no substitute for the professional training of a real therapist when one is needed, I have empathy, honesty, and strong opinions to offer when asked. And I do my research.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a reader in Little Rock asking my advice about what to do for his children’s schooling. He wanted help understanding the school choice debate.

The email reads in part:

My main goal is to learn more about both sides of the school choice and voucher issue. I have two boys in K and pre-K, and my wife and I are considering public and private school options. My mom and mother-in-law were both public school teachers, my wife went to public schools, and I went to private.

Some of my questions for you are: How does the school district determine who is a good teacher vs. a bad one? How do we have some schools that have A/B and others in same district that are D/F? What do teachers’ unions do in Arkansas? Do the charter schools accept kids via lottery? What are good books/ research papers I can read that argue against charter schools and vouchers? Who is pushing for charter schools if they use non-union teachers?

I will try to answer the best I can here, because these questions are important and illustrate some real issues that real people face in real time while bureaucrats debate policy in the halls of power.

Dearest Reader,

Thank you for reaching out. I am honored you would ask me these questions. I want to say first that I am just one person in much the same boat as you, trying to figure out what is best for my own family at the same time as I work to comprehend what is happening in our state regarding education and what role, if any, I might have in helping shape that for the good.

I would also add that I am coming from a rural perspective, which I think is quite different from what yours may be as a resident of Little Rock. I have many friends who teach in the Little Rock School District as well as in private schools there, and friends who have faced the same dilemma you have in trying to decide what is right for your boys. It is not easy.

The procedure for determining who is a good or bad teacher may differ according to school district, and teacher evaluation information may be found on a school’s website. If I were you, I would visit the schools you are considering and ask. Public schools are required to provide this information.

In the district where my children attend and my husband teaches, teachers are evaluated yearly by their building principals. Arkansas uses TESS, which stands for Teacher Excellence and Support System, and the principals conduct formal evaluations using this.

In addition, they conduct informal evaluations by observing the classroom unannounced, taking notes, and discussing observations with the teacher, including what improvements must be made. A plan for implementation of those improvements must be agreed upon and there will be accountability for carrying it out.

Any disciplinary actions taken regarding a teacher are kept in that teacher’s file. Test scores are also heavily relied on to determine how well a teacher is performing, which can be problematic because of considerations related to your second question, which reveals a big problem we have: The grading system for schools is severely flawed.

Arkansas chose this system in response to a federal mandate that we must find some way to evaluate our schools in order to receive Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) funding. We chose to base our evaluation on ACT Aspire scores. We are the only state in the nation that uses this test.

The problem with this test—and the school grading system based on it—is that ACT Aspire is designed to reward affluence. Students from affluent communities are more likely to score well on it, while students in less affluent areas may score poorly. Their schools are graded accordingly.

So in a school where most of the student population is beginning kindergarten after attending great preschools, and starts kindergarten ready to read, those students will already have the skills they need to be reading at grade level; whereas in another school—even in the same district—most of the student population enters kindergarten without the background of excellent Pre-K and maybe at a deficit in skills related to reading, the growth those students undergo in kindergarten may be huge but will not reflected in their standardized test scores.

This will hold true as they come up through the grades and be reflected in ACT Aspire scores. No matter how great a teacher is, they cannot compensate for years of slower development.

I am running out of space, so I’ll stop there. I promise to address your other questions about charters and unions in a future column as well as give more of my opinion as to what I might do if I were in your shoes. For what it’s worth.