I
’d asked parents of private and charter school students to let
me know their reasons for not sending their children to public
schools. Interestingly, I received responses only from Gilroy
residents until I approached Morgan Hill residents when I had the
opportunity.
I’d asked parents of private and charter school students to let me know their reasons for not sending their children to public schools. Interestingly, I received responses only from Gilroy residents until I approached Morgan Hill residents when I had the opportunity.
The responses had some common threads. While academics is not at the top of the list, parents did say that the math, science and history curricula in the public schools were weak. The rest of the concerns had to do with access, standards and accountability. Parents choose private schools because their administrations are guided by the needs of the students and the school community, and not burdened by a bureaucracy that must cope with government mandates and teacher unions.
Parents at private schools feel like valued partners in their children’s educations and perceive that there are fewer firewalls that parents must overcome that public schools have in place. They also said that standards for discipline, behavior, and performance, are more clear and consistent than at public schools. These standards are not liberal vs. conservative, religious vs. non-sectarian values, but those common sense things that help the children develop into decent human beings and productive, participating citizens in our community.
Some columnists do not believe that this is a role for schools, and private school parents perceive that the public schools believe that as well. However, there are thousands of parents who appreciate the help.
I asked what was needed for parents to return to public schools. If the public schools were to adopt what the private and alternative school parents value at their current schools, the parents would consider public schools again. At the community forum related to the Morgan Hill School District’s search for a new superintendent I attended, I met a woman who was passionately supportive of public schools. She said everything we look for is there, including college prep programs and devoted teachers and administrators (some of whom were also in attendance).
If this is true, then where and why is the schism occurring? For small school districts in small towns like Morgan Hill and Gilroy, how is it that our communities still have such an exodus from public schools? I still hear all the time about high school counselors who don’t return needed paperwork for college applications, kids sitting on the floor of overcrowded classrooms, administrators who don’t know students and families, and less than flattering stories from public school families. These are not merely parking lot gossip.
One Morgan Hill board member conceded the school districts could do a better job at “wooing” back families. If wooing means reaching out to the community by providing clear and pervasive communication through regular open houses and presentations, targeted outreach to graduating eighth graders and their families in the entire community, not just the public feeder schools, then that might be a place to start.
I know it is a challenge to begin changing from a business-as-usual practices to do something innovative and different. However, it is not sufficient to rely on public relations newsletters through the mail, and brief announcements in the local newspapers to communicate with the entire community to gain its support, so necessary to improvement of public schools.
Columnist Dina Campeau is a wife, mother of two teens and a resident of Morgan Hill. Her work for the last seven years has focused on affordable housing and homeless issues in Santa Clara County. Reach her at dc******@*****er.net
