Louisiana privatizes education

[Hallistar]

They'll be back to public education within 10 years, probably after the federal government takes control of education again.

But atleast they'll be saved and armed with the power to fight those liberal christ-haters that accept evolution.

[Ethel mermania]

Charter schools work pretty well in NYC, I do not see why they would not work in Lousiana.

No, they really don't. They're generally no better than the public schools they replace, sometimes better, and sometimes much worse.

The mayor's office doesn't like to let people know that in the hundreds of schools closed and reopened, some of those are charters.

Cheers!

A few of the charters, even after the scores were adjusted, the charters slightly outperformed the city schools.

[West Gaul]

lol like anyone was educated in Louisiana in the first place.

[Ethel mermania]

Has profit rather than education taken over our largely private university system ?

Yes. Tuition has more than doubled since the 1980s, IIRC.

That is true in the public colleges as well.

[Poldania]

They're taking the shrinking education budget and giving away part of it so random people can go to private schools? Seems like a much more fair and reasonable alternative to every "throw money at the schools" idea the liberals think up

Thing is, I can't think of any one solution to "fix" education in Louisiana.

The magnet and charter schools are the best ones in the state, and some of the best in the country (source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/20/america-s-best-high-schools.html filter to LA).

If you look at that list (and I'm excluding the one in Natchitoches, because it's too different), all of them are in Baton Rouge or Greater New Orleans. Cities tend to have more money, more educated parents, and importantly more people that they can choose to hire. The competition's partially for teachers, but you get to a point where you can't pay them enough or they're too well qualified, and they go off to a private school or university or something.

Also, almost all those schools are selective. The problem with making more schools like that is you can't replicate them across the entire state since students have to be selected from somewhere.

TL;DR Kudos for trying, but you don't have enough money to do anything other than hurt it more. Wait until the economy gets better, at least.

[Drenetharada]

I think that is biased to use charter schools grades as an example of how they outperform public schools. Some parents can't afford to send their children to a private school, some can't afford to drive their children to school etc. Those who can afford private school can afford tutors etc and their parents generally push for good grades etc. What's going to happen in the long run is the gradual decline of living standards in Louisiana.

I think some of the problems with education is that classes need to be smaller and they should be geared towards you and not the entire classroom because not everyone learns the same way and people don't have the same skill sets so they should be taught in a way that meets their needs and not somebody else.

[Ethel mermania]

Nothing worse than is happening to them now. And if you have schools with different learning methodologies, they may find a school that is a better fit for them, then a large public school.

Bullshit. Take a look at how badly private organizations run prisons. Some things should never rely primarily on privatization

I agree with you about the prisons, I would also throw in the whole justice system, sanitation, enviormental protection, and defense.
I don't think education is best served by one model.

[Laerod]

Bullshit. Take a look at how badly private organizations run prisons. Some things should never rely primarily on privatization

I agree with you about the prisons, I would also throw in the whole justice system, sanitation, enviormental protection, and defense.
I don't think education is best served by one model.

It might not be, but education must first and foremost be available universally. Concentrating good students into certain schools isn't going to make the problem of bad students go away, it will concentrate that as well. Schools that don't have to take everyone will naturally do better than schools that have to try and provide anyone with an education that shows up. As such an overly privatized model will simply not work.

[Bafuria]

I have nothing against voucher-based education itself, it seems to work just fine in Sweden.
What does ruffle my Jimmies is the fact that they can be used to pay for religious education full of pseudoscience. If Louisiana is going to do this they have to implement a stricter curriculum.

[A Republican Empire State]

One thing's for sure, it'll save money...more than His Highness the President of the United States of American and Protector of the Rights of Same Barack Hussein Obama II has done.

[The Andromeda Islands]

The school willing to accept the most voucher students -- 314 -- is New Living Word in Ruston, which has a top-ranked basketball team but no library. Students spend most of the day watching TVs in bare-bones classrooms. Each lesson consists of an instructional DVD that intersperses Biblical verses with subjects such chemistry or composition.

Who needs to read when you got a wicked jump shot?

At Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake, pastor-turned-principal Marie Carrier hopes to secure extra space to enroll 135 voucher students, though she now has room for just a few dozen. Her first- through eighth-grade students sit in cubicles for much of the day and move at their own pace through Christian workbooks, such as a beginning science text that explains "what God made" on each of the six days of creation. They are not exposed to the theory of evolution.

This! Is! A! Bad! Idea!

[Leepaidamba]

One thing's for sure, it'll save money...more than His Highness the President of the United States of American and Protector of the Rights of Same Barack Hussein Obama II has done.

Oh, so you care more about money than about real education? And are you sure the best education is really any more expensive than this lot? Or even the current system?

[A Republican Empire State]

One thing's for sure, it'll save money...more than His Highness the President of the United States of American and Protector of the Rights of Same Barack Hussein Obama II has done.

Oh, so you care more about money than about real education? And are you sure the best education is really any more expensive than this lot? Or even the current system?

Education already sucks...the government is the anti-Midas.

[The Andromeda Islands]

DELETED

[Laerod]

One thing's for sure, it'll save money...more than His Highness the President of the United States of American and Protector of the Rights of Same Barack Hussein Obama II has done.

Who in their right minds considers education a good place to save money?

[Leepaidamba]

Oh, so you care more about money than about real education? And are you sure the best education is really any more expensive than this lot? Or even the current system?

Education already sucks...the government is the anti-Midas.

Who is Mi...
Oh I remember that last translation we had to do for Latin last year. D'you like Ovid as much as I do?
Yeah, uh, no. 'Education sucks, therefore let's privatize it' is not a valid argument especially in the face of evidence that privatizing doesn't necessarily help and might even hurt. The argument is simply 'education could be better, therefore let's change it'. The way in which it should be changed should be based in evidence, not ideology, not wishful thinking.

[Torcularis Septentrionalis]

One thing's for sure, it'll save money...more than His Highness the President of the United States of American and Protector of the Rights of Same Barack Hussein Obama II has done.

Who in their right minds considers education a good place to save money?

Those willing to sacrifice the future for millions so they can keep an overflowing pocketbook?

[Katganistan]

No, they really don't. They're generally no better than the public schools they replace, sometimes better, and sometimes much worse.

The mayor's office doesn't like to let people know that in the hundreds of schools closed and reopened, some of those are charters.

Cheers!

A few of the charters, even after the scores were adjusted, the charters slightly outperformed the city schools.

....didn't I just say that?

[Keronians]

Not too bad in theory, but I don't like the fact that church schools will be receiving state funding.

I do propose a monopsonic education system, though. A universal curriculum, though.

[Keronians]

Who in their right minds considers education a good place to save money?

Those willing to sacrifice the future for millions so they can keep an overflowing pocketbook?

If we define "save money" as efficiency, then I'm not sure who would not want to maximise efficiency, so long as effectiveness is not significantly compromised.

If we define it as secondary to... I don't know... defence, for example, then I agree.

[Laissez-Faire]

Not too bad in theory, but I don't like the fact that church schools will be receiving state funding.

I do propose a monopsonic education system, though. A universal curriculum, though.

That would really defeat the point of private education, which is far from religious education.

[Ordenburg]

I can barely believe what I am reading, what will become of people if proven facts are blatantly disregarded. There is a reason the world believes Americans as a nation of fools. All the idiosyncrasies of american culture and person must be eradicated, combined progression a superior state of civilization is what must be done, individualism and the bible-shouting-fire-breath that plagues the unintelligent masses must be eradicated. I proclaim a war on our errors, unite for a better future or expect none at all.

By the way I am religious too; sacrificing nine goats to Wotan and a spring fire to scare of the spirits of winter to ensure a good harvest every year is important, but the future of humanity must not be compromised.

[Keronians]

Not too bad in theory, but I don't like the fact that church schools will be receiving state funding.

I do propose a monopsonic education system, though. A universal curriculum, though.

That would really defeat the point of private education, which is far from religious education.

It shouldn't be completely privatised.

It should be a hybrid system. Those generally involve a single payer system (i.e. monopsonic).

[Laissez-Faire]

I can barely believe what I am reading, what will become of people if proven facts are blatantly disregarded. There is a reason the world believes Americans as a nation of fools. All the idiosyncrasies of american culture and person must be eradicated, combined progression a superior state of civilization is what must be done, individualism and the bible-shouting-fire-breath that plagues the unintelligent masses must be eradicated. I proclaim a war on our errors, unite for a better future or expect none at all.

By the way I am religious too; sacrificing nine goats to Wotan and a spring fire to scare of the spirits of winter to ensure a good harvest every year is important, but the future of humanity must not be compromised.

Absolutely. American free will can be protected if we force cultural re-education!

Satire aside, what is this better civilization in your mind?

[Laissez-Faire]

That would really defeat the point of private education, which is far from religious education.

It shouldn't be completely privatised.

It should be a hybrid system. Those generally involve a single payer system (i.e. monopsonic).

Arguments for or against private education aside, I fail to see how a universal curriculum provides either educational service efficiency.