This chapter, discusses a significant amount of contemporary conflicts going on within the American School System today. One issue that is addressed through the chapter is the topic under “The end of the common school: Choice, privatization, and charter schools”. I don’t necessarily see the end of the common school, simply because of privatization and charter schools. In actuality, while wages aren’t rising and income disparities continue to grow in such poor-fair economic times, I actually would think less students would be attending private schools due to their parents having an inability to fund such an education. Furthermore, he states that due to so many states adopting legislation towards the creation of charter schools, they will ultimately lead towards the end of the common school as well.
I think the first issue regarding the idea that charter schools will lead to the end of the common school is that he doesn’t bring up the amount of opposition that exists towards not privatizing the schools. Second, he doesn’t seem to mention the possibility that there could be an overall failure of the charter school. While there is conflicting evidence towards the effectiveness of various charter schools as of now, the possible mass manufacturing of charter schools could lower the overall quality of the charter school all together (as which occurs with the quality of many products sold by private companies, which includes food/appliances, etc.) therefore leaving room for the original common school to prosper.
With that being said, my personal belief towards charter school remains pretty much undecided. Although most of my argument tends to go against charter schools, its more to go against the idea that charter schools are the end all of the common school. I truly think with enough opposition towards such charter schools, their implementation across the country may be slowed/halted. My question revolves around the disappearance of the common school. Is the common school disappearing, because private and charter schools are becoming more common? Or is it that this may be a possible hiccup in the evolution of the school system, which may just disappear, almost like the creation of New Coke?
