The bewildered parent stared vacantly at the stack of colorful school brochures spread out on the coffee table. She rubbed her temples unconsciously as if to fight off the tension headache that was coming on.

School choice had seemed so simple and so logical. "Why not bring privatization concepts to public schools? Businesses seem to thrive in that environment" was the argument making the rounds when the state legislature was pushing for school choice.

She warily picked up the marketing brochures and started through them again. Pamphlet number one had an attractive picture of smiling students working in the computer lab. The school claimed to have the highest test scores in mathematics in northern Indiana, although there was no mention of what test was given, what years it referred to or what grade took the test. She picked up the next brochure. This school claimed to have the highest ISTEP scores in its league. What league, she wondered; could a school be the top performing school in a bottom performing league? She sighed loudly and picked up the portable phone to call a few friends. The last time she talked to them they were just as confused as she was. From talking to the PTO officers at their current school, it seemed that most parents were simply picking schools close to their homes, their baby-sitters or their work. So much for school choice by academic performance, she thought to herself.

This scenario may seem farfetched to some, but depending on how far the privatization trend is taken, it could be closer to reality than you think. Whether school choice or some form of vouchers will improve education remains to be seen. However, one issue remains clear: Public schools are under increasing pressure to perform in the eyes of the public. The debate over whether schools are performing well rages on in political and educational circles. In today's climate it is not politically correct to suggest that schools are performing as well as they used to with increasingly diverse students and lower dropout rates. The question remains, "Can schools do a better job of educating youngsters?" The answer is, "Certainly!" The question for our school communities is, "What type of schools do you want?" Let me share three viewpoints for schools taken recently from Marjorie Loyacano for the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News Opinion Page. In Dayton, they posed these viewpoints to their school communities and asked them to share their views on what type of public schools they wanted.

Viewpoint #1

Advocates believe that today's schools are trying to do too much and therefore are doing nothing well. They advocate a basic curriculum of reading, writing, mathematics and history and a safe school environment. They believe that fewer resources should go to extra activities and non-academic subjects and that teaching specific skills should be left to colleges and employers. They would encourage churches and other agencies to handle the social services children might need.

Viewpoint #2

Proponents believe the problem with public schools is that they haven't adapted to changes in the workplace and therefore are producing students that are not prepared for the modern workforce. They believe that schools should be organized so they respond to demands of the marketplace and they should be equipped to handle the technological needs of the future. They advocate possible reductions in academic areas that do not specifically help students be prepared for the world of work. They advocate helping students make possible career choices at earlier ages by promoting job partnerships, vocational training, mentoring and apprenticeships for students. They would like to see teachers in the workplace regularly so they can relate academic information to workplace needs. Viewpoint #3

Advocates argue that young people need more than academics to be truly educated. They believe that many of the problems overwhelming public schools arise from problems that plague families and communities. Proponents of this view believe that schools should be the focus of community life. After-school, summer programs and year-round child care and activities should be available. Social services should be located within the schools and vibrant volunteer programs should be bringing parents into the school regularly. The school literally becomes the hub of community life and the comfortable place that parents go when they need help for themselves or their children.

As you can see, these viewpoints clearly describe the difficulty for public schools. Not only is there a lack of consensus on what viewpoint the community should adopt, there isn't even consensus on which viewpoint we are closest to now. Each viewpoint has a financial cost and major implications for staffing, scheduling and organizing the public schools.

I firmly believe that through community discussion on these viewpoints some direction can be established for community schools. When schools and school communities reach agreement on the type of schools they want, and school districts align their practices and decisions around these agreements, the likelihood of schools improving will increase. Schools cannot be all things to all people, and our troubles may stem from the fact that we have tried. In the meantime communities must be patient. The very stability that has created a strong, positive school environment over the years now stands as a hurdle to school improvement. Public schools can and will improve if communities rally in support of their teachers and administrators and keep a watchful eye on school improvement efforts in each school community. [[In-content Ad]]