The Crack Team network is so vast and embedded that no one man can know the identities of all agents. However, I feel pretty confident that John Stossel is one of them. He’s written a fascinating article on the failures of the union supported government monopoly that we call our public school system. It’s geared toward comparing us with the international community, with which we are increasingly competing due to offshoring.
I am a product of the New Jersey public school system, and I’ve done ok, but I’ve been out of the loop there. In California, at my day job at a large aerospace company, all but one of my coworkers send their kids to private school. The one who didn’t picked up and moved to an area with an acclaimed school system. It’s nice they can afford to do that, but it would be nicer if the government allowed more parents to (as Agent Renegade woud say) “vote with their feet”.
4 thoughts on “The Educational Monopoly”
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I just looked up my school system in Great Neck NY. My high school came in at 22nd place for the entire country; our sister school came in at 43rd place. Pretty good, huh?? They did encourage me and educate me to the point of giving me an A for my English paper revealing that the character Rick in “Casablanca” is actually gay. But they also did not guide me or point out my error when I neglected to mention in my senior research term project that Dr. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister, besides being a great civil rights leader. I think that public schools, no matter how good, still have a hidden agenda…..
I am assuming you’re using the Newsweek rankings here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/
The ranking is based solely on number of students enrolled in AP or IB classes. There don’t seem to be many NJ schools (none in my hometown area). I don’t know if they didn’t report scores, or didn’t make the list. I guess they might have avoided the former for fear of the latter. I found a site that ranks NJ schools based on what appears to be standardized tests:
http://www.psk12.com/rating/USthreeRsphp/STATE_NJ_level_High_CountyID_0.html
On that, the #2 NJ HS (not including vocational) is #15 on the Newsweek list. My HS (and that of 3 other CT Agents!), Brick Township High, is 118; our sister school, Brick Township Memorial, is 149. I remember teachers complaining that while Rumson (#19 in NJ, and listed in Newsweek) boasted they spent so much per student ($7,000), Brick bragged about spending so little – half that.
California has many on the Newsweek list. Looking at SoCal schools, not many crack the top 100, like Fullerton and Oxnard. For the top 200, I’m seeing schools I knew were good: University in Irvine, La Canada Flintridge, San Marino, Rolling Hills Estates, Malibu, Santa Monica. “But Archangel,” you ask, “aren’t those some of the richest cities in the country?” Why, you’re right! I guess all poor kids need to do is move into a San Marino mansion, and problem solved!
I have a friend who believes that there is only one reason those schools are the best: parents. Rich, successful parents that instill in their children the importance of succeeding academically. They don’t get more funding; in fact, extra funding is usually routed to schools in poorer areas. I’m inclined to believe his reasoning, however I’m sure there are concerned parents in poorer areas whose job would be easier if they could get their kids away from the influences of bad kids from bad parents.
And Brick Township also had a great Adult Education program. I took some dancing lessons there and enjoyed them immensely.
Did the study you mention rate NJ schools “exclusively?” I wonder what the numbers would be if you expanded to the tri-State area.
No matter. CT members have taken their educational endeavours past the traditional school system. Witness the educational power of “Classic Movie Night.”
Yes, I got the info from a NJ-only ranking.
And you’re right, Agents must educate themselves far beyond what the establishment deems adequate.