School takeover proposals flawed

By ALISSA WETZEL
Viewpoint
South Bend Tribune

On Oct. 29, the Indiana State Board of Education met in Indianapolis to consider the future of two local high schools that produced low scores in standardized tests for five consecutive years, making them candidates for state takeovers. Of course, the board was not merely considering the future of Washington and Riley high schools, it was considering the fate of hundreds of local students and teachers.

Yet the options put on the table by Republican State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett are troubling. One option would outsource the management of the schools to for-profit groups — a move that would result in a de facto privatization of public high schools. Another option would close the schools all together. Such proposals are deeply flawed.

Both of Bennett's proposals could result in a mass firing of teachers. Theoretically, teachers could reapply for their jobs. But in the face of Gov. Mitch Daniel's recent $300 million cut to the education budget, teachers with little experience would logically have a competitive advantage over more experienced, better-paid teachers. In the short term, teachers at the twilight of their careers could find themselves unemployed simply because they made the decision to devote their careers to teaching in a struggling school. In the long term, talented new teachers may avoid accepting jobs at the most at-risk schools because those schools would offer little, if any, job stability.

Either move would have the net result of breaking up schools that, for many students, provide much-needed stability and a safe neighborhood haven. Gone could be the sports team or extra-curricular activity that gave a struggling student a reason to stay in school, along with the caring teacher who played a critical role in turning a kid's life around. These are important elements that no standardized test can measure and the elements that would certainly be eliminated if schools were to close.

Also, these are the types of intangibles that a for-profit company has no incentive to pursue. A school is much more than a business and should be concerned with doing much more than making a profit and hitting a test taking metric. If struggling schools close or become run by outside management firms, a vital sense of community would be lost in a time when that is the very thing the most troubled regions of South Bend need.

Bennett alleges he is protecting students from ineffective teachers who have failed them. But bad teachers are not the reason city schools are failing. It's no secret that parental involvement is a major factor in student performance, so it's no surprise that the most troubled schools in South Bend and across Indiana are also in low-income, high-crime areas. Students enter high school with difficult home lives and under-involved parents.

To be sure, solving the real issues that plague struggling schools is costly and difficult. It involves common-sense approaches, such as individualized attention for troubled students and smaller class sizes for all students. But these are measures that are unappealing to a superintendent intent on targeting teachers' unions and a governor intent on protecting his fiscal record for an eventual White House run.

Recently, Bennett accused a South Bend teachers union of putting "adult comforts and desires over the needs of the students." What's really happening is that Bennett and his Republican allies are pursuing a political agenda aimed at weakening teachers' unions while avoiding the real reasons why some students fail and others succeed.

Alissa Wetzel is an Elkhart native. She lives in Indianapolis.