When I lived on a farm in Iowa a one room schoolhouse stood not far away on a gravel road in the same township. A friend attended that school in the last graduating class which included students of all grade levels before he went on to college and eventually management and ownership of what became a multi-million dollar family farm. Township schools later consolidated. All rural students were bused into town and one room schoolhouses became derelict. The wooden structures were often used for storage of hay or implements and in the case of my friend’s school, it became occupied by squatters who littered the schoolyard with garbage, conducted drunken binges and when they lit a fire in the woodstove and left it unattended, burned it down.
Times had changed.
Now of course with enormous urban schools, there are no problems involving drugs, concealed weapons, violence, disruption, truancy or electronic devices found to be far more entertaining than the teachers. There are no issues involving discipline due to the fact everyone, students and teachers alike, feel so grateful for being in a nice, clean, sophisticated environment where learning and the dissemination of knowledge is paramount. Drop out rates would not reach double digits. If problems like that existed, people might be tempted to create other schools. They might call them Charter Schools and expect the government to help fund those schools, since public schools had become a bit of a problem in and of themselves.
That is why I oppose tax supported Charter Schools or using tax money for School Vouchers; for the same reason you don’t pour water on a grease fire. It only makes things worse. It doesn’t put out the problem. It only spreads the problem. Money, money, money so everyone can be happy. So everyone can be comfortable. So everyone can get what they want. So we can all buy new instead of working to fix what’s broken.
Maybe that old one room schoolhouse still has some lessons to teach.