An Interesting Take on Fixing Urban Schools...

The American Spectator has an intriguing and provocative article out on fixing inner city schools that have largely failed across America.  Of course the common-sense solution, which more and more inner-city students/parents are demanding, has a lot to do with school choice and letting the free market fix the problem.  from the article:

 "a father, concerned about his son’s attendance there, walked in past “two police cars…[an] everyday routine…. There was violence. Fighting. Disrespect and drugs.” The father complained to the principal about what he saw, and she “shook her finger” at him, admonishing “don’t tell me how to run my school ” That is precisely the response I would have expected from a modern-day unionized public school principal. The father would have been received more cordially if he had complained not about the chaotic environment of the principal’s school but about the police presence out in front..should the public tolerate an educational system that is “destroying any hope or possibility” of its students being prepared to live normal lives? What is more, Moore has the answer, to wit, increased state support for vouchers which would allow the unions to maintain their failing system, but provide for alternatives for parents interested in their children’s well-being."

Read more here

Selected Schools Nationwide "Report" Fewer Violent Issues on Campus than in Previous Years

A very non-scientific poll was recently conducted among a "representative" sample of 1600 schools nationwide, and the results are in.  And multiple media outlets are rushing to report the good news, that incidents of violence are decreasing in the nation's schools. According to the Washington Post:

"Nearly four in 10 schools reported that student bullying happens at least once a month, and 5 percent reported that student sexual harassment happens monthly. It’s difficult to compare those figures to previously published data, which showed the number of schools that reported such problems at least once a week. Federal education officials cautioned that there are methodological differences between the last survey, in 2009-2010, and the new report, which could have influenced the results. The earlier survey was conducted by the Census Bureau, and it was completed with pen and paper, for example, whereas the newly released data comes from a survey conducted online by contractors for the NCES."

Could School Choice Help Prevent the Next Baltimore Riot?

As I was flipping channels on Sunday morning, watching the various Sunday Morning News Programs, there was a lot of discussion, naturally, on the Baltimore Riots.

Everyone on This Week with George Stephanopoulos was talking about it. 

Face the nation had a panel talking about it.

It seemed that everyone had issues they believed contributed to the problems in the Baltimore area.  Poverty, concentrated poverty, income inequality, and a lack of jobs was a recurring explanation.  The police need more training.  The police need more psychological training was one line of thought.

One guest even blamed a lack of neighborhood grocery stores and a deficient transportation system.

 

Whaaaat?

Nobody talked about individual choices, personal responsibility, the disintegration of the Nuclear Family, Skyrocketing out-of-wedlock birthrates in most large urban communities, or the long rap-sheet of drug charges Freddie Gray had.  Nope, no conversation about any of that—those are taboo subjects on the Sunday morning shows.   It was just a lot of gushy, idealistic drivel about how when people make bad choices, it is everyone else’s fault; the government is actually at fault--and must install and pay for more “programs” at once!

And then several panelists mentioned poor education as an issue.

Bill Kristol piped up after the Bernie Sanders Interview and threw out a gem, that nobody touched