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Public Favors Post Office over Public Schools

August 20, 2008 by dave

According to Lisa Snell in this post, the Americans think the post office is doing a better job than public schools.

    An August 2008 poll conducted by Education Next and Harvard University finds that Americans think less of their schools than of their police departments and post offices. When asked to grade the post office, 70 percent of respondents gave an "A" or "B." In contrast, only 20 percent of Americans said public schools deserve an "A" or a "B." Twenty-six percent of the country actually gave their public schools a grade of "D" or "F." And African-Americans are even more down on public schools, 31 percent gave public schools a "D" or an "F."

Lisa goes on to discuss the 2008 STAR test results and a California Charter School Association paper which found that African American students do better in charter schools. While that discussion is interesting, I was really more interested in the post office vs. public education survey.

I think the comparison of the post office and public education is an interesting one. The changes at the post office since the major reforms of 1971 that established it as separate entity have allowed it to compete with a variety of competitors and outside influences including UPS, FedEx, email, etc. Now, 37 years later, it is getting a A or B grade from the majority of our citizens, while public education, where reforms have been mostly lip service, is fundamentally the same as it was 37 years ago.

Maybe it is time for a 1971 Post Office-style reorganization of public education. Without this dramatic level of action, real reforms are going to be limited to individual schools where brave administrators and teachers are willing to make the extra effort needed to get students to grade-level, regardless of their ethnicity, income level, parental education level or school funding levels. Until that happens, students aren't going to get the education they need to be successful in college or in the world of work.

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Comments

For a growing number of

August 21, 2008 by Anonymous, 15 weeks 17 hours ago
Comment id: 57

For a growing number of people, the Post Office is no longer a strong communication method, it's a delivery service or a fun, retro throwback way to entertain yourself and others. So the Post Office now means either "I'm getting a present" or "I'm playing a game", so of course they give it high marks.

Schools are...schools. Until kids and parents believe that learning is fun and valuable, a place defined by learning is going to struggle with its image.

I also think that this doesn't exactly mean that people think schools are doing a bad job, it could also mean that people do realize how incredibly important school is and thus hold schools to a very high standard.

So I really don't have any idea, forget I said anything. : )

Come on......

August 21, 2008 by Anonymous, 15 weeks 3 hours ago
Comment id: 58

First of all the comparison is bunk and that you give it the time of day is disturbing.

Today I received information that I know you have access to regarding student attendance. You are fairly critical about public education and the faults of the system, including the teachers within it. You even advocate wholesale change. What you don't do is point some of the criticism towards the parents of the children who don't value education. I find that fascinating with the information clearly showing that the problem is not, by a long shot, solely an issue with schooling.

What's more, in the eight years that I've been here, I haven't heard a peep about this in public from the people in your position. I'm not saying that out of anger, simply matter-of-fact. Teachers pay attention, and often look for support from the people in your seats. I'm not kidding. But when you put up the posts in your blog, and then put them next to the information regarding what is impacting learning in our district, it makes me wonder where the chasm starts between your building and mine. And we are talking about two people who want the same result.

Anyway, this isn't an angry post, just a recommendation that before you advocate wholesale changes to fix the problem, we might want to address what the problem really is and attempt a unified front first.

Huh?

August 22, 2008 by dave, 14 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 59

I'm sorry, perhaps I'm just stupid, but after reading your comment about six times, I'm still not sure of the point.

OK, so what is the real problem?

What criticism should I point to parents?

So, what is the information impacting learning in our district that l need to consider?

This also is not intended to be an angry post. I'm just trying to understand your comment and what I'm apparently missing.

Thanks,

Dave

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