Here’s a chance to get educated and participate

in debate on public vs. private schools

by Casey Hurley

February 18, 2006 6:00 am

My column comparing public and parochial education was published in this paper on Jan. 1. Thirteen days later, ABC News aired the “20/20” program, “Stupid in America: How Lack of Choice Cheats Our Kids Out of a Good Education.”

The points made in that show contradicted the points in my column. Who is right — me or ABC News? At the end of this column I will invite local citizens to explore this question further. First I will examine the opposing views in the show and my column.

The major premise of “Stupid in America” was that our public school students are stupid because public education is a monopoly. According to the show, creating an educational marketplace will improve America’s public schools. They provide no data or studies to support this claim, but narrator John Stossel states it several times.

My column argued that, instead of a marketplace for public education, we should create school systems that are more communitarian, not more competitive — more like parochial schools.

Another contrast between the show and my column was in how each described the role of teachers. The show portrayed public school teachers as militant members of unions, primarily interested in protecting bad teachers and using political clout to get what teachers want, instead of what students need.

My column described public school teachers as professionals dedicated to providing equal educational opportunity. I wrote that public school teachers “naturally help those students who have the greatest needs, both academically and socioeconomically.”

As a principal in Wisconsin I had to deal with a strong teacher union. Even so, my experience was that public school teachers are responsible for what is good in public schools, not for what is bad. My column argued that public school governing elites are responsible for what is bad about public schools. It is their lack of intelligence, imagination, strength, courage, generosity and humility that have created unequal and inadequate educational opportunities for poor children.

The South Carolina segment of the program made this very point, but the producers, themselves, misunderstood what they were portraying. After being elected in 2002, Gov. Sanford moved his family from Charleston to Columbia. On camera he and his wife bemoaned the fact that they had to buy a home in a wealthy part of Columbia in order to make sure their children received a good education.

The governor’s response to finding out that poor children in South Carolina have inadequate schools was to propose choice legislation.

This was the most telling segment of the show because ABC News showed just one side of the debate. The show gave the impression that there are no legitimate reasons for the South Carolina legislature to defeat the governor’s proposal.

Actually, there is one excellent reason to do so — before South Carolina gives up on providing equal educational opportunity for poor children, it ought to try it. The very same situation exists in North Carolina. We have not tried equal educational opportunity in our state, either.

The airing of “Stupid in America” received a strong reaction from the American Association of School Administrators. The executive director sent a three-page letter to ABC News, in which he defended American public education and accused the producers of playing politics with education. He demanded equal time for a rebuttal. Such an event, however, would simply escalate the politics.

My graduate students also reacted strongly to the show. Instead of engaging in politics, however, we are taking an educational approach to this controversy. We are conducting a study of the public understanding of the issues raised in “Stupid in America.”

The public is invited to a showing of “Stupid in America” at 7 p.m., Wednesday at the Western Regional Education Service Alliance on the Enka Campus of A-B Tech. After the show my students will facilitate discussion and interview local citizens.

In order to reserve a place in the audience, please inform me of your desire to attend by e-mailing me at churley@wcu.edu. I will reply with directions to the location and specific information about what we will be doing.

Casey Hurley is a professor of educational administration at Western Carolina University. He writes occasionally about leadership and regional issues for the Citizen-Times editorial page.