What are the various expectations Americans hold for their schools? Since their inception, public schools have tried to meet society's academic, vocational, social, civic, and personal goals. Perhaps no other institution is the focus of such intense community values and conflict. Schools are expected to protect the national defense, prepare "world class" workers, unify a multicultural society while celebrating diversity, improve academic competence, and provide social and economic mobility.
Should schools transmit the American culture or change it? Two fundamental, often opposing, purposes of schools, are (1) to transmit society's knowledge and values, passing on the cultural baton, and (2) to reconstruct society, empowering students to promote social progress. More recently, a traditional Eurocentric cultural legacy has underpinned the school's curriculum, with a concurrent emphasis on standards and tests. Social issues and concerns have been de-emphasized.
What school purposes are emphasized by educational reform? In 1983, A Nation at Risk triggered a renewed interest in increased testing of a back-to basics school curriculum. A second wave of reports by Sizer, Goodlad, Boyer, and others, focused on strategies to strengthen the teaching profession and restructure education. The third wave of reform reports viewed the school as a comprehensive institution providing social, medical, and other services to children. The first reform wave continues to be the most enduring with its emphasis on a back-to-basics curriculum, standards and testing.
How are magnet and charter schools, open enrollment, and vouchers reshaping our concept of the neighborhood public school? Conservative economist Milton Friedman and others applied a free-market economy to education, with the belief that only the best schools will survive the competition. The use of vouchers allows parents to choose public or private, secular or religious schools, and to pay for these schools with taxpayer monies. Open enrollments permit students to attend any available public school, even if the school is not in their neighborhood. For example, a magnet school is a public school with a unique focus, from musical talents to gifted education. The charter school movement, which started in 1991, encourages groups to contract with school boards and open their own public school. Charter schools enjoy greater freedom in deciding what and how to teach, but their effectiveness has not yet been proven.
Do the laws of the marketplace belong in public education? For-profit education companies, Edison Schools, Advantage, Sylvan Learning, and Tesseract, also referred to as Educational Maintenance Organizations (EMOs), argue that they are more effective and efficient than public schools. Charter schools, vouchers, and other choice plans are based on the idea that competition will lead to better schools. But many parents and educators are concerned about the loss of academic freedom, social fragmentation through niche schools, inculcation of business values at the cost of educational goals and student independence, and giving private companies access to public institutions. They argue that profiteering and commercialism are compromising public education.
Why are so many families choosing home schooling? Home schooling has grown dramatically in recent years. While many home-school for religious reasons, others choose home schooling because they believe that they can provide a more effective education than public or private schools.
