Turning our backs on public schools

OPINION:

As a teacher in a public charter school in the area, I believe private school vouchers turn their back on the District’s public schools, which negatively affects all students in the area. When only a select number of students are placed in a private-school setting, those motivated students and their well-intentioned parents are pulled out of the place where they are needed most - the failing public schools.

I’ve seen one invested parent make a world of difference in not only the dynamic of the classroom but also the motivation of fellow parents. And these are the parents most needed in the city’s public-school system to turn things around. Yes, a large majority of responsibility falls on teachers and school administrators, but pulling talented students out of schools is detrimental.

Because the achievement gap is so wide in the District, it is understandable that well-intentioned parents would turn to private schools to educate their children. But what would happen if those same parents turned to their own public school or a public charter school and invested in it? Couldn’t these parents partner with their student’s public-school teacher, discuss and advocate for their student with their public-school administration and volunteer and engage with their public-school community? While people seem to be running to the private schools to fix their problems, there is far much less engagement going on first within the public schools.

ERIN LAVIGNA

Washington