Utilizing the Power of School Choice
What a waste if not fully optimized!
In the US K-12 education field, the last few years have seen a major improvement: School Choice has become much more widely adopted. In fact, some of the best states now have generous subsidies for parents who opt out of the public school system (e.g. see North Carolina’s). This is positive progress!
However, despite hundreds of articles relating to school choice, I have not seen a single one that gives parents concrete help in properly utilizing this newly acquired power! In other words, how do they fully take advantage of this new freedom?
Yes, I am aware of such sites as Great Schools, Niche, and School Digger, but none of them appear to adequately cover the most important considerations that should be considered when making a K-12 school choice.
I can’t adequately comment on homeschooling as there are way too many variables that come into the picture. For some situations it may be ideal, but from what I’ve seen, in the majority of cases it is not. Also, for a variety of reasons, I do not favor online schools (e.g., here).
So the choice for most parents is between: regular public schools, charter schools, and private schools. [FYI, charter schools are part of the public school system, and are also free. Although they have some advantages (e.g., see here), they are burdened by the same major liability of public schools: a progressive curriculum.]
When making a school choice, a checklist should be used. Further, the items should be carefully separated into 3 categories: a) Essential, b) Important, and c) Bonuses. What parents put into each of these categories is up to them, but if I were making such a choice for my child, this would be my checklist:
A - ESSENTIAL CATEGORY (a failure of any of these would result in a hard no):
1 - They prioritize Critical Thinking.
Considering the unparalleled benefits of being a Critical Thinker, this should be one of the school’s top education priorities. If it really is, it should be a publicly stated commitment (on their website, etc.). Critical Thinking should be taught in Science classes (ask exactly how), and then applied in all subject areas.
2 - They prioritize teaching the Scientific Method.
This is a canary in the mine about how “progressive” (bad) the school is, inadvertently or otherwise. (For example, the real Scientific Method will not be taught in schools that adhere to NGSS.) To verify that they support the Scientific Method, it should be a publicly stated commitment (on their website, etc.).
3 - They do NOT teach Casel-style SEL, or related (Woke, DEI, CRT, etc.).
SEL is not the problem. Conveying it via atheism and Marxism is the issue. Teaching SEL via Critical Thinking or via Judeo-Christian standards is fine.
B - IMPORTANT CATEGORY (only considered after all the Essentials are met):
4 - Competent teachers who are good communicators, interested, and committed.
5 - Wide selection of extra-curricular activities.
6 - Affordable.
7 - High academic results.
C - BONUS CATEGORY (after all the above, extra points are given for these):
8 - A classic curriculum
9 - Christian based school.
10-Convenient location.
So my 2¢ is to make up your own list of priorities and put together an Excel list. Then evaluate schools under consideration, giving each a score of one to five in every category that you’ve listed.
Since each of the items on your list is not of equal importance, multiply the answers of A by 3, and B by 2. Adding them all up will give you a good idea as to what are the best options for you and your children. (A perfect score on my suggested list of priorities would be 100.)
If you have some suggested refinements, please put them in the comments below.
Some sample articles of interest:
Tips for Choosing the Right School for Your Child
The Pros and Cons of Public, Private, and Homeschooling
Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:
My Substack Commentaries for 2023 (arranged by topic)
Check out the chronological Archives of my entire Critical Thinking substack.
WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.
C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.
Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.
Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2023 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?
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Democialists at work:
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning is helping make evidence-based social and emotional learning an integral part of education from preschool through high school.
The Collaborative is meant to replace the family and replace individual development with group think.
Thanks for raising this issue and CASEL.
I just made a FOIL request for City of Buffalo K - 12 curriculum with the intention of bringing Alex Newman’s Indoctrinating Students to Death to the table. Critical Thinking is the bane of consensus as you champion so wisely.
I have always enjoyed your well thought out commentary on critical issues and I thank you for your endeavors.
It saddens me much to witness the evil being perpetrated by the elitists and globalists who have no conscience and are forcing their will (power and control) on the human race. God help us all!