CT Forum: Joel Klein- 'Whose Children Should Be Assigned To Underperforming Schools?'

 

Source:CT Forum- Joel Klein: former head of the New York City Public Schools.

"Selected full forum videos are available at www.theforumchannel.tv  Joel Klein, , with 1.1 million students and 1,600 schools, makes a big statement regarding the state of our national education system. Klein participated in The CT Forum's " with moderator Norah O'Donnell (MSNBC) and panelists Jon Schnur, Davis Guggenheim (Director, "Waiting for Superman," "An Inconvenient Truth"), Lily Eskelsen (V.P. of NEA), and Deborah Gist." 

From CT Forum

Joel Klein makes and excellent point here and it gets at the heart of education reform in America: "Who's child should be forced to go to and under performing school?" If people who can afford not to by living in a community with good public schools, or can afford to send their kids to a private school, doesn't have to send their kids to bad schools, then why should kids of low-income parents and who live in low-income communities be forced to go to bad schools, which is exactly the case today in our big cities. 

Kids in big cities like Washington, Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angeles, and other big cities, as well as other cities are forced to go to low-performing schools, because their parents don't make enough money to live in a better community where they would be able to go to a good school, or send them to private schools. Should we doom these kids and sentence them to a life of poverty which is what we might of already done with their parents and force them to go to bad schools, just because they are children of low-income parents? It's not their fault their parents make little money. Kids don't pick their parents they are born to them. 

Joel Klein also makes a good point that its not a question of whether we can educate our kids well or not. We are the richest country in the world, the question is will we be in the future from what we're currently doing in education and the rest of the economy. Will we put the reforms in place as a country to do this and take on the special interest groups to make this happen or not, or will our kids continue to be stuck going to bad schools just because of where they live and nothing else? And why should a kids residence be a block in front of them in where they go to school, they have no say in where they live, thats up to their parents. 

What we do mostly as a country with our public education system, is make kids go to school based on where they live. Not what's the best school for them. So if you live in a wealthy or middle class community, chances are you get to go to a good school. Or your parents can afford to send you to a good private school. 

President George W. Bush who I agree with about as often as there is a 100 degree days in the North Pole, once said that education will be the civil rights issues of the 21st Century. And he was right because now that all Americans are equal under law and can't discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, etc. 

Without an access to a proper education, it's very difficult for people to advance in life because they won't have the skills that they need to get a good job that will support themselves and their families. And most likely will be dependent on some form of public Assistance. 

President Bush also said that we should eliminate: "The soft bigotry of low expectations." Meaning just because kids are from low-income families going to bad schools, that we shouldn't automatically assume that they won't be able to learn and be successful in life. And he's dead right on both of those points. 

What we've been doing with our public education system is exactly what we shouldn't be doing. And now we are 39th in the world in education as a result. And what we should be doing instead, is have a public education based on choice and accountability and funding our schools that are in low-income communities in a more adequate fashion and reform our property taxes.