1.  Happy Independence Day!
2.  Merit Pay
3.  Milton Friedman
4.  Technology in Classrooms
5.  Editorial – Socioeconomic Integration
6.  Quote

Happy Independence Day!

"It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for what this delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is freedom. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty."

-- Albert Einstein

Merit Pay

Recently, the New York Times had an article on merit pay for teachers. Pros and cons abound for rewarding the initiative of the teacher with merit pay. The article also states that the NEA feels that teacher merit pay is inappropriate. How about supporting another avenue for initiative that includes both teachers and parents? Empower teachers and parents by giving them the ability to go beyond the box of the public school system and into the broader world of public education allowing them to choose from alternatives. This would not cost more but provide infinitely more possibilities to teachers, parents, and kids. 

Dinner honoring Milton Friedman

The dinner honoring Milton Friedman, sponsored by the Ethan Allen Institute and Vermonters for Better Education, will be held Tuesday, July 31, at the Windjammer Restaurant on Williston Road in South Burlington. The date is the 95th anniversary of Dr. Friedman’s birth, and will be marked by similar events in many other states around the country. Reservations (by July 28) are essential. Please reserve your seat by calling or emailing the Ethan Allen Institute, 695 1448 or eai@ethanallen.org. The price is $30, and may be paid in advance or at the door.

Book on Milton Friedman & School Choice

Liberty & Learning: Milton Friedman's Voucher Idea at Fifty
by Robert Enlow
Publisher: Cato Institute (September 25, 2006)
 
Book Description: "Fifty years ago, Milton Friedman had the ground-breaking idea to improve public education with school vouchers. By separating government financing of education from government administration of schools, Friedman argued, parents at all income levels would have the freedom to choose the schools their children attend. Liberty & Learning is a collection of essays from the nation's top education experts evaluating the progress of Friedman's innovative idea and reflecting on its merits in the 21st century. The book also contains a special prologue and epilogue by Milton Friedman himself. The contributors to this volume take a variety of approaches to Friedman's voucher idea. All of them assess the merit of Friedman's plan through an energetic, contemporary perspective, though some authors take a theoretical position, while others employ a very pragmatic approach." 
 

Technology in Classrooms

A laptop isn’t a laptop if it is chained to a desk…
 
According to a Times Argus  article, the Vermont Senate Education Committee took testimony about pilot programs in Maine and Massachusetts that give laptops to students to use in school and even at home. Maine has placed laptops in about one third of its high schools. Vermont is experimenting with it. Many schools already have computer labs with computers that line the walls. Students do need access to computer technology. Of this, there is no doubt. Exactly what is it that we expect from this technology?
 
In Massachusetts, the aim of giving students this technology is that it will “…result in higher test scores, better understanding of subjects and concepts, a lower drop-out rate and even reductions in text book and school laboratory costs”. This has to be the reason behind such an expenditure of money within the public school system. Yet, college students have to buy their own laptops. The United States went to the moon and back using inches and a slide rule. Kids now a-days have more computing power in their cell phones than the Apollo Space program did. Updating the technology is a constant strain on budgets.
 
So I ask again, what is it that we expect from this technology that we want to put into the classroom? An understanding of computers is a necessary part of job training. It is an economic necessity. With students of any age, technology in the classroom must be used as a tool, but if it becomes another gimmick, if it is not used to its full potential, then what have we done? Yes, computers can reduce books, pens, and paper for many applications. They can deliver education in a way that no other medium can. Computers can also reduce the need for direct teaching. Computers can even break down walls and make a classroom unnecessary. 

Editorial: Brown v. Board of Education and Socioeconomic Integration

In 1954, the US Supreme Court handed down the famous Brown v. Board of Education (Brown I) decision, that stated “segregation deprived black children of equal educational opportunities”. In 1955, the Supreme Court added to Brown v. Board of Education (Brown II) that for school systems to fully comply with Brown I they had “to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis.”
 
Up until now, public school districts complied with Brown by using race to determine which schools students go to in an attempt to create equality. This has created much tension because it is forced integration. On June 28, 2007, the US Supreme Court handed down a decision, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1, that changes how schools districts are to “determine admission to the public school on a nonracial basis” as described by Brown I & II. The Court restricted the school’s ability to use race as a factor in school integration to create equality. 
 
In order to comply with Brown without using race, enter socioeconomic integration. …or integration based on the socioeconomic status of a family. Socioeconomic is the study of social or economic impacts on economic or social activities of individuals. Within the discussion of school integration, family income, education of parents, parental occupation, language spoken, and where a family lives can have an impact on their socioeconomic status and thus where a child ends up going to school. Even within this system, the family may have limited choice options in where their child goes to school with the use of a magnet school.
 
According to an op-ed that was published in the New York Times, the Parent v. Seattle US Supreme Court decision will draw “attention to other, perhaps better, ways of promoting diversity and improving minority students' achievement”. Beyond Brown is an op-ed that was published in the New York Times on July 2, 2007 written by Andrew J. Coulson from the Cato Institute. It gives yet another option to achieving a system of determination for admission to a school not based on race. It is well worth the read.
 
The op-ed draws attention to full choice as a mechanism to offer true integration. This would also satisfy Brown v. Board of Education with just as much success if not more than socioeconomic integration.

• “Choice programs….have a strong positive record - bringing residential and classroom integration and improving minority–student outcomes.”
• “[Choice would] reduce the residential segregation that today’s public-schooling arrangements have caused.
• “It is quite common for students to self-segregate by race within school…simple exposure does not promote integration, so schools that appear integrated by the numbers may not have meaningfully integrate hallways, lunchrooms, or even classrooms.”
• “Students are most likely to choose to sit with children of other races in private, not public, schools.”
• “Private schools are actually less segregated than public schools when examined at the classroom level; and that private schools participating in voucher programs…are much less segregated than public schools.”

Quote

“Everyone in America has school choice unless you're poor.”

-- Dan Gaby, director of Excellent Education for Everyone, NJ

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