Should Public Schools Be Redefined - Literature review Example

 Should public schools be redefined? It is a debatable issue whether public schools need redefining or they are doing just fine. Different scholars have opposing opinions on the subject matter. Issue 8.3 enlisted in the textbook with the heading “Should Public Schooling be redefined?”, talks about two opposing views. Frederick M Hess is in favor of redefining schools. In his article ‘what is the public school?’ He reasons why and how public schools need to be redefined. On the contrary Linda Nathan et al. (2004) respond in “A response to Fredrick Hess” giving answers to the objections raised by Hess. In the beginning the public school crusade was headed by Horace Mann (1796-1859), Massachusetts education official. His campaign was justified that increased urbanization, population increased due to immigration and industrialization of the state are good enough reason to rethink school policies. The matters they considered were school attendance and participation for democracy. The result of this movement culminated in forming their own private schools in competition with the dominant protestant public schools. The 1920s saw immense efforts of illuminating any other form of schooling other than the government-run public schools to make sure that attendance and compliance were met according to the standards. Such measures were challenged in the court in Oregon. The point being the matter of rethinking redefining public schooling proved itself a complex problem which could not be solved by a simple solution. The first attempt of redefining public schools in the United States was formation of “charter schools”. This was an effort to fuse together public and private schooling systems, it was also an attempt at circumventing constitutional prohibitions of funding private and parochial schools (Alexander and Alexander, 2011). It also highlights what problems were faced with the status quo in public school systems. The attempt of redefining public schools was motioned by President H. W. Bush in 1992, where he explained the term public education saying that regardless of the class that the school gives education to be it privately funded or through town councils or religious denominations, any school that serves the public and is accountable by a public authority is a public Institute and provides public education (Alexander and Alexander, 2011). This might seem like a political definition of public education but does state the very essence of public schooling system. Frederick Hess gives his arguments in the favor of redefining public schools by starting his article with the phrase that public schooling is nothing more than a rhetorical device (Hess, 2004). His argument is based on the basic evolutionary process because the way the world and system evolved the concept of the term public must also expand. It should be flexible enough to cater to the changing social environment. Hess (2004) supports the notion that public schooling needs to be understood in their basic concept which is the commitment of preparing students so they can become productive members of society, be socially responsible and be respectful of their constitution. By this definition they cannot deny access to any student based on their difference in educational focus. It implies that it is the responsibility for public schools to place each student in the appropriate course. Ray Bacchetti (2004) in response to Hess gives his argument. He states that Hess’s implications are inherently obvious. He goes on to argue that the terms the others would use to set forth are not the obvious ones. For instance he thinks that diversity and tolerance are umbrella terms that can be interpreted in many ways (Bacchetti, 2004). Which means that they cannot be transforming district principals because when they are confined to a strict definition if it is evident that certain values will be left out due to rationing. It is also based on rationing or privileging of values might also fade some of Hess’s own terms like obligations of “citizenship” and “productive members of social order”, these are the terms that Hess does not himself strictly define (Bacchetti, 2004). Which indicates that he concluded his propositions based on affirmative reasons. His intentions might be good but his proposition I'm based largely on academic learning. It is also evident from his proposition that he has had a bitter experience and view of educators. Linda Nathan (2004) adds to the same argument by emphasizing the concept of public education. She increases the responsibility of public schools with the argument that public schools have a larger and more democratic purpose (Nathan, 2004). This is useful in both arguments of for and against rethinking the public education. No matter what the opinions are, more realistic approach that takes care of more aspects of a problem is always more probable. There's also a school of thought that targets aspects other than the constitutional prohibitions of funding schools. To them redefining public schools is necessary in the information age. Parents have different choices on how to educate their children (Scott, 2008). For convenience the term charter schools can be used interchangeably with public schools because they do assert a form of public schooling. Charter schools are publicly funded, they accept everyone. Chris Lubienski (2001) gives a comparison in his article between charter school reformers in the state of Michigan with the school reformers of the 19th century, especially Horace Mann. His study finds conflicting ideas about the very definition of public school. He establishes with his data that both reforms support tax funded schools, access for everyone, however, the common school reformers have a bias towards political-democratic control in schooling (Lubienski, 2001). In this bias me extend to words influenced school reforms. Lubienski (2001) and on to his studies that charter schools challenge this form of control; they support market mechanisms of consumer choice and encourage competition between education providers. In order to give strength to their agenda the need to redefine the popular concepts of public and private education. What ultimately happens is they end up framing the education process and turn it into a consumer product. Larry Cuban (1998) gives a holistic view of public schooling. He suggests in his study done change their forms in the same with reforms change schools. Which implies that to judge and innovations success is not easy. The studies revealed that there is a lot of bias and dubiousness that exists in evaluating schools performance which in turn translate into making reforms. Effective schools challenge policymakers to get more explicit in their criteria for judging their success or failure. Cuban’s (1998) study concludes that constant adaptation of school uniforms undermines the criteria for judging the success and failure of that policy. An article in The New York Times talks about increasing number of lawmakers and their consideration of redefining public education, but their efforts are focused towards directing the debate from classroom to pocketbook (Santos, 2013). It implies that instead of funding the traditional neighborhood school system lawmakers including some governors thinking about channeling public money to families. The reason is acceptable because these families would now have the choice to send their children either to public, private, religious, online or homeschooling (Santos, 2013). The article mentioned some events in 2013 when the “Indiana Supreme Court upheld the state's voucher program” (Santos, 2013), so the families could get their children out of public schools and get them admitted to the private schools of their choice. It also gives them the choice from taking them from one public school to another. This kind of freedom attracts the public because it gives them the choice and authority to choose the program and schooling they deem fit for their children. Parents are usually biased in claiming that they know what is best for their children. Such are forms wrote help them feel at ease by choosing the kind of education for the children. A tax credit scholarship in Arizona has expanded the eligibility for education savings account (Santos, 2013). It is an effort to model the schooling system according to the changing social environment. Supporters of public school reforms proposed that tax credit and voucher programs show families a way out of the failing public schools. There are critics who argue against this option because drawing money away from public schools will weaken the system further leaving it vulnerable. This makes sense because of years of crippling state budget cuts have put it a question mark on performance of public schools Currently there are 17 states that offer 33 programs allowing parents to use tax money to send children to private schools (Santos, 2013). The American Federation for children is a nonprofit advocate for school vouchers and tax credit scholarships that gives individuals and corporations reductions in taxes if they choose to donate money to state-run scholarship programs (Santos, 2013). But qualifying for these programs requires eligibility. The purpose of this paper is not to take a stand for or against redefining public schooling. It looked at different opinions and arguments both for and against redefining public school systems. It also looked at what the proper lens of the defining the public schools say; how David actually plan and implement the strategies. The nature of this essay does not recommended either the schools need redefining or not but it is only common sense to support adaptation. Changing political and social environment demands changes from institutions like public schools that they can better provide education to students. References Alexander, K. and Alexander, M. D. (2011) American public school law. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Bacchetti, R. (2004) A response to Fredrick Hess: An ongoing conversation. Phi Delta Kappan. 85(6). Cuban, L. (1998) How schools change reforms: redefining reform success and failure. Teachers College Record. 99(3). p. 453-477. Hess, F. (2004) What is a ‘public school?’ Principles for a new century. Phi Delta Kappan. p. 584-590. Lubienski, C. (2001) Redefining “public” education: Charter schools, common schools, and rhetoric of reform. Teachers College Record . 4, p. 634-666. Nathan et al. (2004) The larger purpose of public schools. Phi Delta Kappan.. 85(6). p. 440-441 Santos, F. (2013) With vouchers, state shift aid for schools to family. The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/education/states-shifting-aid-for-schools-to-the-families.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Scott, S. T. (2008) Redefining public schools. White Paper. Oakland University. Retrieved March 28, 2014 https://www.oakland.edu/upload/docs/Pawley/Lean%20for%20Schools/Whitepapers/WP_Redefining_Public_Schools.pdf Read More