Public School Policies

Students in schools across the country may find their campuses and classrooms shuttered beginning next fall. In a scramble to improve student performance and address funding shortages, districts are proposing school closures on large scales. Although parents and teachers are voicing their concerns about such sweeping moves, school and government officials maintain that closing under-performing schools is the right thing to do.

School Closures Across the Nation

New York City Public Schools have been at the forefront of the trend of shutting down under-performing public schools. Most recently, New York City’s Panel for Educational Policy voted to shut down 19 of the city’s public schools. The 19 schools had all been nominated for closure by Mayor Bloomberg on the basis of poor academic performance. The New York Times reports that New York City has closed or is in the process of closing 91 schools since 2002.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Board of Education announced in January that it would “close, consolidate, or overhaul” 14 public schools this year, according to the Chicago Tribune.

School districts in Cleveland, Ohio and Providence, Rhode Island have also recently proposed closing schools in an attempt to boost student performance and address budget shortfalls.

Reasons for School Closure

Poor performance is the most common reason given for choosing to close a school. New York City School officials say that high schools are chosen for closure on the basis of low graduation rates, low student

In the past decade, public awareness of our planet’s natural resources has grown, and with that understanding has come to a movement in living in environmentally sustainable “green” ways. While just a few decades ago recycling was a fringe activity, today it is a widespread practice. Hybrid vehicles have gone from fantasy to reality.

As national interest in living sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles continues to grow, a number of public schools are joining the green movement, designing green curricula for students at all levels. In fact, some charter schools are now based around the ideals of green living.

This TED Talk discusses teaching sustainability in schools.

Green Charter Schools

The New York Times reports that across the country, public charter schools that are based around a “green” theme have been springing up. The Green Charter Schools Network, which is based in Madison, Wisconsin, says it has counted about 200 green charter schools nationwide, according to the Times. These green charter schools serve several purposes that both benefit the earth and their students’ futures.

Preparing Students for Work in the Sustainable Energy Industry

Some charter schools focus on technical skills that will prepare students to find work in the “green collar” jobs that are frequently touted as a part of a growth industry.

The Times article mentions Manhattan’s Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, which opened in

Since the nation entered an economic recession in 2008, public school systems across the country have been grappling with some of the most severe state budget crises in recent memory. As governors introduce their budget proposals for the 2010-2011 school year, school districts are learning that the belt-tightening and difficult choices are likely to continue next year.

Hawaii

In Hawaii, the Department of Education has managed its budget crisis by instituting mandatory furlough days for public school teachers. The furlough days have resulted in Hawaii public schools being closed on seven Fridays since October 2009.

The closing of public schools on Fridays has prompted strong reactions from public school parents in Hawaii. Parents have formed two grassroots organizations: Save Our Schools Hawaii and Hawaii Education Matters. The groups have been pressing Hawaiian legislators to restore the 27 furlough days that are planned for the remainder of the 2009-10 school year.

Hawaii’s governor, Linda Lingle, has been working to try to find a way to get students back in school on the planned furlough days. The Honolulu Advertiser reports that the governor, the state Department of Education, and the Hawaii State Teachers’ Association are in the process of negotiating terms that might allow students to return to the classroom on some of the upcoming furlough days.

However, any solution that the negotiators propose will inevitably involve compromises. The teachers’ union is concerned that the governor’s proposal to restore furlough days will result in a severe budget shortfall

As our nation’s politicians and policymakers look for ways to improve America’s public education system, the teaching institution is coming under direct fire. From conducting background checks on teachers to holding instructors accountable for students’ lackluster test scores, the entire foundation of our education system is being challenged.

Interestingly, a model for improving the quality of our teachers may already exist in the Teach for America program. This is a nonprofit organization that recruits high-achieving college graduates to teach for two years in low-income schools. Teach for America teachers do not have to undergo the traditional credentialing process; they receive “boot camp” training and then are given full responsibility for a classroom of students.

Yet despite their lack of traditional teaching credentials, Teach for America teachers are often more effective than their veteran teacher colleagues at improving student performance. In part, this success can be attributed to the rigorous analysis that the organization performs of its teachers.

This video offers some pros and cons of the Teach America experience.

How Teach for America Measures Performance

For the past decade, Teach for America has analyzed the profiles of its teacher applicants and the test scores of students in an ongoing attempt to identify the traits that the best teachers have.

Teach for America’s internal analyses identify a teacher as one of the “best” if the teacher moves his or her

Along with cold weather and hot cocoa, the “holiday season” brings with it a renewal of a roaring, ongoing debate. The debate that December consistently reignites is between those who believe that public schools should be allowed to teach religion, as long as all major religions are covered, and those who argue that public schools should refrain from any discussion of religion whatsoever.

What Some Say: We Should Teach and Celebrate All Religions in Public Schools

Some argue that public schools should be allowed to display religious imagery and teach students about the beliefs and customs of various religions, as long as the school celebrates and acknowledges all of the major religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and atheism, as well as any other religions that are a major presence in a given school community).

Many public schools seem to subscribe to a version of this argument during the holiday season. It is not uncommon to find elementary school students learning in December about Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Ramadan. Teachers and administrators often believe that by teaching about various holidays, they are honoring the diversity of religions that their students may practice at home, as well as teaching all students a valuable lesson about religious inclusiveness.

This was the line of thinking that Indiana public school officials followed when they taught second graders a song for a holiday performance that required the students to sing the line “Allah is God.” Fox News Radio reports