much thesameway, choose topractice.In make andthevirtueswe the different choiceswe character isreshaped by our by weatherpatterns, constantly beingreshaped Just asamountainis work andcommitment. ing. Allittakesishard that isdurableyetevolv- sound character can acquire agoodand development isthatwe message ofcharacter slip into.Buttheuplifting irresponsibility are easyto laziness, dishonesty, and shoes, selfishness, acter. However, likeacomfortablepairof Jr., or evensixteen, goal ofatrueeducation, ties andprivate institutions education that they share withtheuniversi- which havean advantage inthisrealm of focuses primarilyonpubliccharter schools, and homeschools.However, thisarticle work goesoninpublic,private, parochial, schools.This andsecondary elementary formation ofcharacterandamoral focusin determines ourchoices. acter—and ourcharacter choices developourchar- “Intelligence plus case assuccinctlyanyoneeverhas. leader MartinLutherKing,Jr., statedthe an importantpartofeducation.Civilrights Robert Holland “ A great deal ofemphasisisgoingto “ Character isnotengravedbyagesix

We canchangeandimprove ourchar- Vol. IX • No. 6 ” — wrote JohnM.Templeton, character one ment inrecent decades high levelsofgovern- Repeated scandalsat one islooking.” “what wedowhenno character formationis to theoldconceptthat have givennewstrength A our ” 1 ” Another Niche for Schools Charter saidDr. King. — character is definition of common — potentially divisive instruction divisive potentially i.e., , that isthe classrooms of the willing. the of classrooms particularly good fit with fit good particularly Character education is a is education Character charter schools because schools charter on moral and spiritual and moral on issues is done within done is issues — Character Education: sound characterandmoralvalues. bought intotheapproach usedtoinstill contentiousness whenparticipantshave religion. However, theedgecomesoff such that apubliclyfundedschoolisadvancing dimension ofcharacterspursallegations taught, of laggingachievement haveledmany subsequent reports oftest scores, criticisms the 1983 toward meetinghighstandards. Following an ethicofworkinorganized way and wrong, andachievement,whichentails character, whichincludesasenseofright But itisjustoneofthree. Theothertwoare the importantcomponentsof competence. mation inthecurriculum student achievement.Thetwogoalsare character whilesimultaneouslyincreasing emphasize aprocess thatwilldevelop A NewView ofCompetence questions ariseasto education canbecontroversial when conventional publicschools.Character charter schoolsasisoftenthecasewith schools bychoice.Theyare notassignedto them. Peoplestudyorworkincharter parents, andstudentsare notassignedto Many charactereducationprograms ” orwheninclusionofthespiritual By RobertHolland “ A NationatRisk knowledge Scoresby addsthatfactual and toonarrow. Dr. character isincomplete tence thatdoesnotinclude any definitionofcompe- knowledge. Heargues that according totheirfactual students competent been structured tomake out thatmostteachinghas oped thisprogram, points psychologist whodevel- tional consultantandchild Lynn Scoresby, aneduca- human competence.Dr. A. based onafresh viewof training program thatis and Competence,ateacher certainly trueofCharacter separate andapart.Thatis joined, insteadofstanding “ whose valueswillbe — ” is indeedoneof report, and — all theinfor- achievement-test results, and emotionalskills,improved tasks,increased social focus onlearning reduction inconductproblems, greater grades K-9. more than600high-riskstudentsin ages andethnicbackgrounds, including more than65,000studentsofdiffering and Competencehasbeenfield-testedon use oftheprogram, notesthatCharacter Foundation, whichcontractsforschools can besolvedbyimproved character. distractions andconductproblems which students achievementskillswhilewereduce knowledge yield greater successinstudentsacquiring includes goodcharacteractuallyfigures to comprehensive viewofcompetencethat edge. However, Dr. Scoresby contendsthata increasing students schools toconcentratesingle-mindedlyon as characterqualities separate units,thesefourVirtues are taught into thecurriculumratherthantaughtas Taught throughout theyearandintegrated justice, temperance,prudence,andfortitude. based ontheGreek Cardinal Virtues of different qualityofcharacter, onethatis Each month,anAcademyemphasizesa is thestrong moralfocusofinstruction. Carolina, andOhio. schools inMichigan,NewYork, North zations, operatesthirty-twocharter successful educationmanagementorgani- experience. NHA,oneofthenation education tobecentraltheclassroom ter-school companiesthatconsidermoral man J.C.Huizenga,isamongthosechar- founded in1995byChristianbusiness- A MoralUnderpinning students todemonstrate itintheirlives. with students,modelthetrait, and encourage understand. Teachers discussthesequalities verance respect, cooperation,courage,andperse- Mary EubankoftheUtah-basedLegacy Mary Part ofwhatdistinguishesanNHAschool National HeritageAcademies — that thechildren canmore readily “ because wewillbeteaching “ The results indicateamarked ’ graspoffactualknowl- See “CharacterEducation” — such asresponsibility, Continued onpage 6 ” shesays. (NHA), ’ s most ”

’ July 2003 Guest Editorial – Consolidation is a Bad Idea By John T. Wenders

rkansas, movements down cost curves have been show gradually improving pupil perform- , South more than offset by upward shifts in these ance until the early 1960s. From then A Dakota, Kansas, same curves. until the early 1980s, however, scores Vermont, Iowa, and The number of public school districts in plummeted, such that, by the end of this are presently, or the U.S. shrank from 117,000 in 1940 to period, high school graduates were about have been recently, 15,000 in 2000. The number of public one and one-half years behind their weighing proposals to schools fell from 233,000 in the late 1930s predecessors of the early 1960s. There has reduce the number of to 91,000 in 2000. These two develop- since been some recovery in scores, but school districts within ments caused the average number of pupils well below what it would have been had John Wenders their borders by consol- per district to rise from 217 in 1940 to the pre-1960s trend continued. idating some of them 3,159 in 2000, and the average school to Over the same period, community into larger units. swell from 127 to 521 pupils. colleges grew in no small part because they governor Mike Huckabee, As everyone knows, these consolidations provided remedial help. Moreover, half the responding to a court decision that made were accompanied not by amazing new private schools in existence in 1994 were the state responsible for providing children efficiencies but by rising-per pupil founded in the three decades immediately with an “adequate education,” proposed that costs—and costs borne more and more by preceding. It is at least plausible that both the number of school districts in Arkansas non-local sources. From the end of World developments responded to public school be cut from 310 to no more than 116. In War II to today, real per- pupil spending and district consolidation and the accompa- Arizona, new state school superintendent sextupled, even as the local share of public- nying declines in pupil performance. Tom Horne said that consolidation of his school funding dwindled from 80 percent Why should this be? Effective-schools state’s 220+ districts would ease administra- (early 1900s) to 45.4 percent in 2000. research indicates that achievement is tive costs. In South Dakota, the House stronger where schools establish a clear education committee recently considered a Power follows money to its source. identity for students—a community of bill to reduce districts from 176 to 30. In education, that has meant following it In Kansas, a proposal to slash the number upward to places where special interest interest, yet consolidation pushes the other from 303 to 30 was being studied. groups are better able both to secure way. High schools, in particular, became Vermont’s legislature is weighing a proposal further hikes in school funding and to shopping malls. Larger schools necessarily to shrink the number from 60 to 15. Iowa is divert much of the increment toward had less sense of community. While diversity pondering financial incentives to encourage themselves and their members. may be a plus in other ways, it probably does not square with improved student consolidations. (In Michigan, they already Besides price escalation, consolidation performance. What’s more, all of this get a $50-per-pupil bonus.) In Idaho, a discourages competition and educational occurred as the larger society was fracturing. similar proposal went before the House edu- diversity. Harvard University’s Caroline Ironically, these developments led both to cation committee. And, of course, New York Hoxby and the University of Chicago’s Sam greater homogeneity among schools and City mayor Michael Bloomberg has effectively Peltzman have found that it adversely more diversity within schools. Both devel- merged that city’s many “community” affects both the cost of education and the opments eroded student performance, the districts into a single, centralized system. performance of students. Peltzman discov- former by reducing competition among ered that deterioration in pupil performance However, this pendulum swings both schools, and the latter by destroying strong was greatest where the shift in funding ways. Oregon is considering proposals to school identities. break up large school districts. Los Angeles from local to state sources was greatest. has often been urged to shear the mammoth He also found that the upward movement Big schools are a problem for other LAUSD into thirty or so parts. In Nevada, of power added to union influence. reasons. Many people judge the optimal plans are afoot to break up the huge Clark Consider pay and work rules. school size to be about 300-400 students at County (Las Vegas) school district. And Teacher unions bargain at the district level. the elementary level and 400-800 in sec- Wyoming’s legislature recently defeated an As districts become larger, negotiators on ondary institutions. Yet fourth-fifths of U.S. attempt at more district consolidation. both sides are farther removed from direct elementary students are in schools larger than 400 students, and nearly three-quarters Does it matter? Yes, the history of public knowledge of individual teachers and schools. Districtwide pay schedules and of secondary pupils attend schools bigger education suggests that district consolidation than 800. By contrast, higher performing and the inevitable school consolidation that work rules become more detached from the performance of real teachers and schools. private schools are typically less than half follows are generally bad ideas. Although the size of their public counterparts. proponents promise lower costs and Veteran teachers transfer out of inner-city stronger student performance, in practice schools. The ultimate union objective is Bigger doesn’t mean better. More neither seems to occur. Worse, over the statewide salary schedules and work rules, consolidation will push both education long haul, consolidation sucks power away which already exist in North Carolina and costs and student performance in unwanted from parents, students, and local influence Washington State. These are more readily directions. State policymakers should take into more centralized political arrange- controlled from the top. A favorite trick is note. ments in which teacher unions and other to mandate statewide minimum starting John T. Wenders is Professor of special interests have even more clout. The wages that force up entire salary grids. Economics, Emeritus, at the University of result has been higher, not lower, per-pupil Perhaps this would still be worth doing Idaho and a Senior Fellow at The costs and worse education. In the jargon of if students learned more but, by and large, Commonwealth Foundation, Economics 101, any economies gained by they have not, at least not lately. The data http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com.

2 EducationMatters ~ July 2003 Education Reformers Seek New Paths to School Leadership— Call for Deregulated Entry, Performance Pay, More Power, Provokes Spirited Debate

new “manifesto” published by the “I believe that a strong, competent a principal’s position. Fewer than two in five Fordham Institute and The Broad governing body, combined with a talented were satisfied with their principals’ ability to A Foundation contends that CIE and senior management team, can make tough decisions, delegate responsibility, American public education faces a “crisis in make a profound difference in turning our engage teachers in developing policies, or leadership” that cannot be alleviated from school systems from lack luster bureaucracies spend money efficiently.” traditional sources of school principals and into high-performing enterprises,” said Eli Some states are already moving to address superintendents. Its signers do not believe Broad, public school reform advocate and these problems. According to the report, this crisis can be fixed by conventional founder of The Broad Foundation. fourteen states have developed some type of strategies for preparing, certifying, and Released in May at a Washington alternative route or certification program for employing education symposium featuring principal and superintendent positions. leaders. Instead, they urge proponents and critics of The Thomas B. Fordham Institute supports that first-rate leaders be these reform proposals, sought outside the research, publications, and action projects of the manifesto’s signers national significance in K-12 education reform. education field, earn Private and charter schools include two former U.S. salaries on par with their It is neither connected with nor sponsored by Secretaries of Education, Fordham University. For more information on peers in other professions, current and former and gain new authority are already free to seek great the Institute or its publications, please visit members of Congress, www.edexcellence.net/tbfinstitute/index.html. over school staffing, a governor, state and operations, and budgets. leaders wherever they can district school superin- The Broad Foundation’s mission is to Entitled Better Leaders tendents, and education dramatically improve K-12 urban public for America’s Schools, and find them—and empower officials and experts education through better governance, already signed by sixty- from a wide range of management and labor relations. The five educators and policy them to truly lead. We must backgrounds and Foundation was started with an initial leaders, this manifesto was philosophies. investment of $100 million that was recently issued by the Thomas B. encreased by the Broad family to $400 now do the same for the “Alternative routes million. The Foundation also sponsors the Fordham Institute and have already become the The Broad Foundation. one million dollar Broad Prize for Urban source of almost one Education, awarded each year to urban “In an era when America schools that most American third of our new has finally resolved to school districts that have made the greatest teachers,” Finn noted. overall improvement in student achievement. leave no child behind,” children attend. “Now it’s time to think says Fordham Institute For more information, visit anew about the key www.broadfoundation.org. president Chester E. Finn, leadership posts of Jr., “thousands of our principal and superintendent. Private and public schools and school systems need charter schools are already free to seek great better leaders. First-rate school executives leaders wherever they can find them—and can be found in many places. It’s time to empower them to truly lead. We must now open the doors and invite them in.” do the same for the schools that most Better Leaders for America’s Schools calls American children attend.” on states and school systems to overhaul an Better Leaders for America’s Schools notes archaic and inadequate hiring system that that a number of large school districts, virtually bars proven leaders outside the including Chicago, Jacksonville, Los education field from seeking positions of Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, responsibility in public schools. It urges San Diego, and Seattle, have selected none- boosting principals’ pay while authorizing ducators to lead them. It includes profiles them to hire and fire staff and make cur- of several superintendents and principals riculum and budget decisions. This would with nontraditional backgrounds who have be a better use of scarce dollars than subsi- thrived in such districts. dizing the credentialing as leaders of many Moving Beyond ‘Take What You Get’ educators who have no intention of assum- ing leadership roles. (In Illinois, for example, American schools today are more about 1,300 educators annually receive accountable for performance than ever certification as school principals though the before. They need leaders who are equal to state has only 3,000 public-school principals; that challenge. “This is a huge problem,” nearly half of those who receive certification explained Finn. “A recent survey showed as principals in Massachusetts do not seek 60 percent of superintendents saying that jobs as administrators.) they must ‘take what you get’ when filling

EducationMatters ~ July 2003 3 Signs of the Times Bronx parent Denise Moncrief told the New bling interests,” said King County York Post. Prosecutor Norm Maleng, who heads an Once informed of the dismal school anti-gambling group. “We expect better rating, though, 94 percent of parents said from an organization that purports to speak they would likely transfer their child to a for teachers.” better public school, and 97 percent said The union is trying to protect Initiative they would support free tutoring—two 732, which voters approved three years ago. options made available under the No Child It guaranteed teachers annual cost-of-living Left Behind Law. However, if they could increases, based on the Seattle inflation rate. afford it, more than 80 percent of parents “We have qualms about it,” Hasse said. would transfer their children out of the “There are no easy answers in any of this. Double Principal public schools altogether and put them in This may be the best that we’re able to do private or parochial schools. An over- in this session.” Salaries, Says Columnist whelming majority support using public funds—vouchers—for that transfer. Source—The Spokesman-Review. The Washington Post’s respected educa- Source—School Reform News, February tion columnist Jay Matthews wants to Editor’s Note— double principals’ salaries. There’s no doubt 2003, a publication of Heartland Institute, that this proposal is going to be received www.heartland.org. This controversial bill was referred to with skepticism in these times of tight the House Commerce & Labor Committee, budgets, but Matthews insists. The colum- Teachers Union Backs but the bill did not receive a hearing by nist says that despite visiting hundreds of the cutoff date. It is now considered a schools in the last twenty years, he’s never Gambling Proposal “dead bill,” although technically the bill been to a bad school (“those sour places could become active at any time during where kids are just tolerated and goals never The Washington Education Association the 2003-2004 session. set”) that was run by a good principal. decided to support a controversial Besides, since principals are always few in statewide gambling proposal, so long as the number in any district, his plan is not going millions of dollars raised would pay for Not Enough Men in the to break the bank. Furthermore, the princi- teacher cost-of-living increases. pals’ chief job—hiring excellent teachers—is “It’s not our preferred approach,” WEA Classroom? one that would pay immediate dividends. president Charles Hasse said. “This would Only 4 percent of teachers in early Better paid principals could be granted be seen as an emergency method to get us through this tough time in the state.” childcare are men. Only 13 percent of ele- both increased accountability and mentary school teachers are male. Seventy- discretion, whereby the principal would be Gambling critics blasted the idea. six percent of teachers overall are female. responsible for raising achievement school- “That’s so wrong,” Spokane retired As a student gets older, his or her likelihood wide and have the increased ability to teacher and gambling foe Penny Lancaster of being assigned a male teacher increases. dismiss consistently failing teachers in said. “The idea that a teachers union would These are the findings of a new report by the order to accomplish that goal. align their name with that industry sends a National Association for the Education of Matthews knows his proposal is unlikely terrible message.” Young Children (total membership: 103,525; to be adopted, but it makes his point: bet- “I’m shocked that the WEA would even female membership: 99,000) lamenting the ter principals are worth the money. consider aligning themselves with the gam- consequences of this gender imbalance. Source—“A Plan for Principals’ Pay,” The Washington Post, May 6, 2003. Most Parents Don’t Know AmericanBoard If Kids Are in Failing Launches Enhanced Web-site Schools in New York he American Board is excited to announce the launch of their new web-site at www.abcte.org. The revamped site is designed More than 300,000 children are in the T to be informative and user-friendly, and aims to speak to the 331 New York City public schools the state needs of education officials, policymakers, and potential American has rated as low performers, but 85 percent Board certification candidates. New pages on the site are dedicated to providing of the parents whose children attend those up-to-date information specific to Master and Passport-to-Teaching certification. schools don’t know about their school’s low An innovative addition is a narrative about the development of the American Board rating, according to a survey of 1,200 peo- standards. ple conducted late last year by the Foundation for Education Reform and The Resource Center, where you can find information about alternative Accountability. Although Foundation certification as well as the American Board Circular archives, has a fresh, President Tom Carroll was “shocked” and easy-to-navigate design. Be sure to check the Breaking News section on a weekly surprised by the finding, parents weren’t. basis to find out the latest about American Board activities. The Board invites teachers to submit comments, concerns, and suggestions by using the new American Board “The letters sent to parents about the sta- online guest book! tus of their schools are filled with jargon,”

4 EducationMatters ~ July 2003 Where We Are Now: A Digest of a Decade of Survey Research

ccording to this “survey professors say it is much worse standards alone. of surveys” by Public for a child to be promoted and More than half of A Agenda, most U.S. passed along without learning high school employers and college profes- “Teachers in their what was expected than to be students say that sors rate recent public school held back a grade.” “teachers in their graduates as barely literate, school spend more This support for strong school spend poorly motivated slackers who measures applies to testing as more time trying know a lot about computers. well. Before students are to keep order in This is one of the more time trying to keep awarded a high school diploma, the classroom blunt findings in this compila- say more than half of all than teaching tion of public opinion analyses order in the class- parents, teachers, employers, students,” and on education over the past and professors, they “should be many high school teachers decade, but not the only room than teaching required to pass a basic skills interesting one. We also learn test.” Yet few believe that testing agree. that parents, teachers, employ- should be the only gauge of This report ers, and professors all give high students” student, teacher, or school is a useful compilation of the attitudes marks to the basic concepts success. All groups think and views of groups toward education and that constitute the No Child Left Behind schools should use “standardized test scores learning at the dawn of the twenty-first Act. All of those groups strongly support and teacher evaluations as basis for promo- century. It is worthy reading. high standards and the efforts to back them tion.” Teachers support high standards but To check it out, go to: up with real action. “In fact, majorities of believe the problems facing schools and http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/where parents, teachers, students, employers, and children will never be solved by tests and wearenow/wherewearenow.htm

Aren’t Rank and File Union Members Entitled to Know More? Excerpts of a speech by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) Conference

the years preceding my they need to protect their rights and their If you have any doubts, just read the tenure at the [Labor] union’s financial integrity. Washington Post. Recently, it’s been filled ...In Department, the federal In a sense, the Department of Labor with daily stories of how the local teacher agency responsible for ensuring union acts like the Securities and Exchange union leadership has allegedly spent local transparency and integrity—The Office Commission for organized labor. members’ dues on designer clothes, lavish of Labor Management Standards—was vacations, and political activity—to the nearly gutted. Its resources were slashed Right now, the forms some unions file tune of $5 million. And that’s just what 40 percent at a time when other Labor with the Department are virtually mean- has been discovered so far. Department enforcement agencies ingless. For example, one union reported …One of the [Washington Post] received hefty increases every year. $3.9 million as “sundry expenses.” That’s a lot of sundry expenses! Another reported editorials raised a very pointed question: Its offices were banished to the $63 million in “grants to state and local “…how could [this scandal] have gone farthest corner of the building, as far affiliates joint projects.” No further on for so long?” away as possible from the office of the details were given. The answer is simple: union members Secretary. The message was clear: don’t dig too deeply and don’t ask for any That’s why we announced a Notice of have almost no access to detailed more information than you get. Proposed Rulemaking last December to information about their unions’ finances. Even the U.S. Labor Department has a We have a duty to protect the dramatically improve the quality of information that labor unions must difficult time getting this detailed retirement security of rank and file information. Furthermore, we just don’t union members. These responsibilities disclose to their members through our Department. have the resources to carefully audit all are actually enshrined in a law called the reports the unions must file. the Labor-Management Reporting and Some have predictably attacked this Disclosure Act (LMRDA). That law effort as “anti-union.” Nothing could be All of that has got to change…. requires us to make sure that rank and further from the truth. In fact, it’s Source—Landmark Legal Foundation, file union members have the information pro-union member. www.landmarklegal.org.

EducationMatters ~ July 2003 5 the role of virtuous adults—first parents, Op-Ed Column in the nation. The Free Press Character then teachers and friends—who model Association gives the award to journalists virtuous behavior for students. As part of who use First Amendment freedoms to Education study, he recommends reading the ancients question authority and to expose violations (The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, the of individual rights. Holland’s writing also (Continued from page 1) Old and New Testaments); the enduring has won awards from the International For instance, when a reporter visited documents of citizenship (the Magna Carta, Reading Association, the American Academy the new NHA-operated Queen’s Grant Bill of Rights, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, of Pediatrics, the Family Foundation, and Community School in the Mint Hill Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From a the Virginia Press Association. community of Mecklenburg County, North Birmingham Jail”); the classics of prose and ENDNOTES Carolina, last fall, she found the school poetry (Sophocles, Shakespeare, Donne, Marlowe, Spenser); and more recent story- 1. Colleges That Encourage Character concentrating on the trait of wisdom. Said Development, edited by the John the school’s principal, Christy Morrin, tellers (Hemingway, Steinbeck, Melville, Twain, Cather, Bronte). By practice, he Templeton Foundation, Templeton “What we’re doing here reinforces what the Foundation Press, Philadelphia, 1999. parents are doing at home.” Educators means not only doing the intellectual tasks “actually are doing a disservice to society,” of reading, essay composition, and organ- 2. Celeste Smith, “Parents Applaud she said, “if they teach children how to read ized research, but also the exercise of being Volunteer at Mint Hill Charter and write without also teaching them to a good person. That means the sustained School,” Charlotte Observer, respect others.”2 discipline of respecting teachers, October 29, 2002. As is true of other NHA schools, Mint classmates, and self, and being honest, 3. Ibid. Hill has a daily assembly at which students punctual, and honorable. 4. Denis P. Doyle, “Education and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing While Doyle’s preference is clear, he Character: A Conservative View,” patriotic songs. Teachers use direct instruc- ended by arguing against any particular Phi Delta Kappan, February 1997. tion and the curriculum is based on E. D. approach being dictated. “As I do not want Hirsch, Jr.’s Core Knowledge Sequence. to have Rousseau’s views imposed on me,” 5. Ibid. Mint Hill Mayor Ted Biggers, Jr., fought he wrote, “I do not propose to force my For a complete version of this report for state approval of this K-5 charter school Hobbesian views on hapless romantics. with more examples of outstanding because of his conviction that a good Let us agree to that. That is what liberty— character education programs in cutting Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system or liberalism—is supposed to be about. edge charter schools, you may access it at would become even better. As the region The logic of liberalism is to leave people http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/v03/ grew and schools became more and more free to pursue the aims that suit their gadfly12.html. crowded, recognition grew that “if you values. Let the followers of Rousseau and wanted any other choice in education, you Hobbes compete in the marketplace of both couldn’t find it in Mint Hill.” In this case, ideas and practice. The schools of Rousseau a charter school helped meet the demand for those that want them, the schools of for solid education with a moral Hobbes for the rest.”5 Quote to Note— underpinning.3 This is precisely the beauty of public “Putting money into home schooling is Some Concluding Thoughts charter schools. They can be organized by throwing money down a rathole. You devotees of competing educational philoso- It ought to be noted that character have no idea if that money is being spent phies so that, within the publicly financed properly or children are benefiting.” education does not mean the same thing to school system, parents and students and all who promote activities in its name. teachers are free to choose what most —Wayne Johnson, President of the Scholar Denis P. Doyle may have appeals to them or motivates them. California Teachers Association (CTA) described most cogently the differences in Character education is a particularly good approach to character education in a 1997 fit with charter schools because potentially article for Phi Delta Kappan entitled divisive instruction on moral and spiritual Maybe someone should inform “Education and Character: A Conservative issues is done within classrooms of the will- Mr. Johnson of the following: View.” One side favors student self-expres- ing. Other public and private schools can sion, self-esteem, critical thinking, values learn from charter schools what approach The average home schooler’s SAT score clarification—in short, a process not neces- to character formation might work for is 1100, eighty points higher than the sarily leading to right or wrong answers. them, given the informed consent (and average score for the general population. In terms of political thinkers, that school of even better, outright endorsement) of thought is associated with the French families and teachers. Only 3 percent of home-schooled Romantic Rousseau, whose ideas helped Robert Holland is a Senior Fellow with fourth-graders watch more than three mold progressive education in the U.S. The the Lexington Institute, a nonprofit, hours of TV a day, vs. 38 percent of all other school of thought favors self-restraint, nonpartisan public policy foundation based fourth-graders. structured learning, assiduous study of in Arlington, Virginia. great books, and an understanding of right M.I.T. admitted seven of twenty-one and wrong based on eternal verities. That He specializes in education reform, one of the issues the Institute regards as of surpass- home schoolers who applied last year— mindset might be called Hobbesian, after or 33 percent—twice the overall rate. the English thinker, Thomas Hobbes.4 ing importance to the success of democracy. In Doyle’s ideal paradigm, sound Holland was Editor of the Op-Ed Page of character education is composed of three the Richmond Times-Dispatch where he Source—Time Magazine, August 27, elements: example, study, and practice. Life also wrote an award-winning column on 2001, “Is Home Schooling Good for is ultimately about moral choices we make, education-related topics. America?” he argues, not about technique or “sponta- Holland won the 1992 H.L. Mencken neous unfolding.” By example, he means award in the category of Best Editorial or

6 EducationMatters ~ July 2003 Released Time: It’s Legal and It’s Working

nock, knock.” Helen Colburn is Classes can be held in trailers parked lightly rapping on classroom doors curbside, as they are in Anaheim where “K at Benito Juarez Elementary Mrs. Colburn’s “chapel on wheels” is School in Anaheim, California. Her watch hitched to a truck and moved each day to a may say 10:40 a.m., but to the fourth-and new school—five in all. Nationally, however, fifth-graders falling in behind her, it’s most Released Time classes take place in “Released Time.” nearby homes, local churches—even an out- Two, three, sometimes a dozen students door park. In Ellijay, Georgia, churches emerge from each classroom and parade banded together to build the Christian behind Mrs. Colburn to a portable Learning Center next door to a public high classroom trailer parked in front of Juarez school. Hundreds of teen students walk 100 Elementary. The Released Time Christian feet through a gate to take “lifestyle” classes Education portable classroom lies a mere taught from a Christian perspective; and six inches off campus—the distance they receive credit for these elective classes. between the trailer and the sidewalk. An Why would non-Christian parents agree orange extension cord runs from the trailer to send their children to unabashed to a separate electric meter box nailed to a Christian instruction? “The parents don’t go telephone pole; this way the school district to church, but they want their kids exposed is not liable for the electricity that runs the to Christianity,” said Atkinson. In addition, trailer’s lights and air conditioning. some parents work Sundays and Released In the new millennium, the separation Time is their only opportunity to give their between church and state can be measured Released Time programs. An estimated children religious instruction. 250,000 public school students participate in inches and kilowatts, but public schools A View from the Classroom and religious education can coexist—and nationally. Most of these are elementary have done so for more than 85 years in a school students. Mrs. Watts, who teaches a fourth-grade little-known program called Released Time Released Time is a grassroots activity, class, welcomes Released Time education education. started and maintained by local ministerial because it helps with classroom order. “Do I notice differences? Yes! My students in The Released Time trailer is simple and associations—pastors and their churches Released Time come back Spartan. Ten wooden desks with laminated banding together to spon- more concerned about tops and a half-dozen metal chairs are sor extracurricular religious their fellow students. shoehorned into an 8-by-20-foot space, education. “The more giving the feeling that Mrs. Colburn is a churches working together, They seem to get along modern-day “Old Woman in a Shoe” who the better,” explains John “Do I notice better; they don’t squabble had so many children that she didn’t know Atkinson, president of the like they usually do. I can what to do. Fellowship of Christian differences? Yes! think of one of my unmo- Released Time Ministries, tivated students who, after Why so Spartan? There’s no room for based in Long Beach, his Released Time class, is more. At Juarez Elementary alone, just over California. My students in a much happier child the 100 fourth- and fifth-graders participate in rest of the day.” Released Time education. Some of the The “released time” Released Time come thirty-two students in the present class are concept is open to all faiths. Stories like this sitting three to a desk. The Mormon Church has gladden the heart of John purchased land adjacent to back more concerned Atkinson, a pastor who Released Time education dates back to public schools in Utah and first heard of Released 1914, when Indiana migrants successfully Idaho for the sole purpose Time twelve years ago petitioned their school districts to allow about their fellow of offering classes in when he was invited to a religious instruction. The principle of off- Mormon religious instruc- church conference on the campus religious instruction was upheld in tion. Muslims offer a hand- students. subject. “Released Time a landmark 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ful of classes in major cities. sounded illegal when I ruling that affirmed that states may pass first heard about it,” he said, “but it’s legit. laws allowing students to be released from The vast majority of Released Time class once a week for off-campus religious classes, however, remain nondenominational Groups such as the American Civil Liberties instruction. Christian, and independent programs have Union leave it alone.” been established in upstate New York, Writing for the majority, Justice William Bible instruction for kids in the pubic , rural Pennsylvania, subur- school during the school day is legal and it’s O. Douglas penned, “[We] find no constitu- ban Southern California, and the Pacific tional requirement which makes it necessary happening every day in hundreds of public Northwest. These nonprofit associations schools all over the United States. for government to be hostile to religion and rely on contributions from private donors to throw its weight against efforts to widen and area churches to defray operating costs, Source—As reported by Mike Yorkey in the effective scope of religious influence.” pay liability insurance, and purchase Bibles Trendwatch. Whether Released Time education is for the students. John Atkinson estimates Trendwatch is a publication of Gateways welcome in the public square varies from that 85 percent of Released Time teachers to Better Education. For subscription infor- state to state: presently thirty states have are volunteers. mation, visit www.gtbe.org.

EducationMatters ~ July 2003 7 Court Teachers’ Group Sued for Punishing Instead of Watch ‘Accommodating’

California teacher union has been PJI President Brad Dacus says unions court. The Pacific Justice Institute is cur- sued for religious intolerance— regularly discriminate against Christians. rently waiting for a ruling from the federal A specifically, for having dues poli- “[Such discrimination] is becoming court to see if they will accept the motion cies that are openly hostile to religious very common and very widespread,” since it was filed late. If the court accepts faith objectors. Dacus says. “That’s why it’s so important the motion, Pacific Justice Institute is pre- The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) has that people who have to work with the pared to litigate the matter in federal court. sued Associated Chino Teachers (ACT), a union realize…they don’t have to pay a Dacus hopes the case will set a new local branch of the California Teacher’s single penny to the union if it violates precedent against unions that appear will- Association (CTA). The lawsuit was filed their beliefs and convictions, and…they ing to punish objectors. Federal regulations on behalf of teacher Barbara Madsen, who don’t have to pay more out of their pock- require all unions to “reasonably accom- requested that all of her dues go to a et to a charity as an alternative than they modate” those with religious convictions charity—but was forced to actually pay would have had to pay to the union.” against paying dues to their unions. more to the charity than she would have Recently, the Associated Chino Teachers Source—Pacific Justice Institute, paid the union. (ACT) filed a motion for removal into federal www.pacificjustice.org.

A Much Better High School U.S. History Textbook

exas just adopted new high school • Clear grasp of concepts of divided “shortages,” noting that the latter result U.S. History books. Four major sovereignty. It always distinguishes from government price ceilings. It equally T publishers offered texts. Three had states’ rights from state sovereignty, presents pros and cons on whether global more or less the same old pro-big govern- and Constitutional supremacy warming exists, and on economic policy ment, anti-free market, political correctness from federal supremacy. measures to deal with it. It avoids most problems. However, one, The American • Some due diligence on original excesses of political correctness. Republic Since 1877 (Glenco, 2003), broke intent. It occasionally notes ranks to become a benchmark. Its overall This Glencoe book reviews the pre-1877 scholarship is superior to the other high Jeffersonian-Jacksonian views of period in greater depth than the other high school U.S. History books seen in Texas in original intent on major school U.S. History texts. This is vital the last forty years, in that it features: Constitutional issues. because high schoolers can absorb more • than 8th graders; because recent immigrants • Inclusion of pro-free enterprise Divergent views on the Depression perspectives. It moves beyond and New Deal. It generally avoids may have missed the first half of U.S. th 1930s quasi-Marxist “Robber partisanship on controversial topics History in 8 grade; and because many Baron” interpretations on in economic history from 1929 to colleges do not require students to take industrialization and big business. 1939. U.S. History. If not in high school, some Americans will never learn pre-1877 U.S. • Accurate treatment of strict and This text also affirms the conservative History. That would be tragic. loose construction. It rightly defines nature of the American Revolution by strict and loose construction of the closely relating it to its British constitutional Source—Educational Research Analysts Constitution, and properly historical content. On resource economics Newsletter, a publication of the Mel Gablers discriminates between them. it correctly distinguishes “scarcity” from web-site: www.textbookreviews.org/.

Gary Beckner EducationMatters is published by the Managing Editor Advisory Board Association of American Educators. For more Kelley Autry information, contact AAE, 25201 Paseo de Associate Editor & Research Leta Rains Andrews • Tracey Bailey Alicia, Suite 104, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 Diane Meyer Patricia Ann Baltz • Gene Bedley (949) 595-7979 Editorial Assistant Polly Broussard • Eric Buehrer (800) 704-7799 Fax (949) 595-7970 Bobette Craycraft Dr. Kevin Ryan • Guy Rice Doud Editorial Assistant Thomas A. Fleming • Valerie Anderson Hill E-mail: [email protected] Ron Law Dr. Lewis Hodge • Dr. William Kilpatrick Website: aaeteachers.org Newsletter Design & Layout ©2003 by Association of American Educators