St. Louis Schools Need Help Now

School Vouchers Proven Helpful

School Choice Illinois posted about a study that shows the positive effects of vouchers on public schools. The study is from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. With all the evidence, we need to stimulate changes within our public schools. Children are failing at alarming rates...and they need our help!
Empirical evidence shows school vouchers have positive effect on public schools

A newly published report collects all available empirical studies on how school vouchers affect academic achievement in public schools. The conclusion finds that the school choice programs improve public schools in a variety of ways such as racial integration, fiscal impact and academic achievement.

For instance, “A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools,” authored by Greg Forster, Ph.D., took a total of 17 empirical studies, which have examined how vouchers affect academic achievement in public schools, and found that 16 showed that vouchers improved public schools. The remaining study found no visible impact on public schools.

Click here to download a copy of the full report from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Charter school Excellence

Hello its me once again. Today I want to talk about how children everyday are being robbed of an education. A school is a place were we go to learn stuff we previously do not know. However in an effort to see who does the best, some schools have become uber competitive in the attempt to reign supreme as the best school in the country. Out of this fierce competition the children who are not as fast learners as the braniacs are left behind. However Charter schools which in a sense are hybrids of schools combine instilling tons of knowledge into a child’s brain while also not being competitive and gradually easing the child through the process of learning in an effort to confirm that the child learns the knowledge and is able to maintain it throughout his or her life.

My education

Since first grade I have been in a suburban saint Louis school. I moved here from New York and had no idea what kind of education I would be receiving. However being a first grader at the time I could not care less for my education. Upon starting my first day of school I was amazed by the amount of attention that not only myself but all the other students received. I noticed this from first grade to where I am now, a second semester senior in high school. The point that I am making is that I have had ADHD my entire life and the amount of help I received from my teachers was amazing and led me to where I am now, a happy and successful student preparing to go on to a prominent four year college. This all adds up to the fact that without all that help and attention my teachers showed me I was able to become a successful student. My final point being that if the kind of attention and help I received was available in all schools and available to all children then we would see a vast increase in the amount of children that go on to college and the amount of children getting good jobs after college.

Stimulus Taking Education Choice Away?

Do you ever wonder why thing always go one step forward and three steps back? That is all I can think of these days. So, the economy is in the dumps. The government is throwing out stimulus money left and right. Now what do they want to do? Take educational options away from children! Not only will these children have to pay for this spending later on, but many of them will be trying to do this with a sub par educational background. What sense does this make?!
According to CNS.com, the House approves a $410 billion spending bill, while eliminating school vouchers in DC.
Democrats also inserted a provision into the bill to end a program that allows students in the District of Columbia to use federal funds to attend private schools of their choice. Boehner, who helped establish the program as part of a political bargain several years ago, called the move "hideous."

Is it Jealousy?

I know jealousy is a negative feeling to have, nonetheless, I face it today. I live in Missouri, and while I love and appreciate this amazing place, I know there are states out there with virtues I wish my home state would possess.
This is taken from the Examiner:

Shopping for Charter Schools

February 17, 5:33 AM
by Karin Piper, Colorado Charter Schools Examiner
Is a charter school a good fit for your family? If so, which one in your community may be the best fit?
The Indystar reports on the Charter School Community Fair at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, which allows parents to peruse area charter schools in search of those answers.

Dozens of parents picked up literature and interviewed staff from the 17 alternative public schools in the city, searching for the best matches for their children for the 2009-10 school year.
Sponsored by Mayor Greg Ballard, the first-of-its-kind fair allowed parents to supplement their research on the schools with one-stop shopping convenience.

What a fantastic idea! Answering whether or not a charter school is right for your family or not, may be difficult if you don’t know which one of the 150+ unique charter schools you are speaking of. So why not make a list of what you are looking for in a school?
One parent in the Indystar article says she is searching for “focus on academics but also a broader selection of extracurricular options and a diverse student body.” While another expresses her son's needs for a program strong in math and the arts.
Wish lists are also often inclusive of criteria such as class sizes, student/teacher ratio, scheduling, graduation rates, SAR ratings, academic performance, and so on. Customize the list to suit your child's needs.
To my knowledge, there is not a charter school community fair, such as the one mentioned above, scheduled in Colorado in the near future. But don’t let that discourage you from doing your homework now. Visit the Colorado League of Charter School Finder for the schools near you. It’s a great place to begin your research. You will find that charter schools are like snowflakes, and there are not two which are identical. The goal is to find if and which one is right for your kids.
Remember, regardless of which school you choose (private, traditional, magnet, charter, homeschooling), you are exercising a parent’s right to school choice.

I look forward to the day Missourians statewide can go school-shopping for our children.