Reprinted from the NJEA Reporter, June 2004
(Last of a Series)
Great public schools – like Milwaukee’s SAGE schools – leave the voucher movement without a message
Great public schools are the voucher movement’s worst nightmare.
Despite all their rhetoric about wanting to “improve” the public schools, voucher supporters know they can only succeed if public schools are perceived to fail. So, it’s no secret that organizers for Excellent Education for Everyone (“E3”), the Newark-based pro-voucher organization in New Jersey, aren’t organizing parents in the state’s more affluent suburbs, whose public schools are among the nation’s best. Instead, they’re targeting parents whose children are attending struggling urban schools.
When E3 flies New Jerseyans to Milwaukee for carefully-scripted tours of a few of that city’s voucher schools, they don’t show them the city’s SAGE schools – and for obvious reasons.
The SAGE (Student Achievement Guarantee in Education) program was launched in Wisconsin in 1996-97 in 44 schools, including several in Milwaukee. The program for K-3 students was primarily targeted to disadvantaged students, and it has expanded every year (it is now available to all elementary schools in the state). SAGE requires class sizes of 15 or fewer; before- and after-school programs; a rigorous curriculum; strong accountability; excellent professional development for teachers; and family and community involvement.
Students in SAGE schools have enjoyed major achievement gains, particularly in the first grade. African-American students scored particularly well, and small classes help them narrow the “achievement gap” with white students. But these schools are not on the E3 itinerary.
NJEA’s commitment is widespread
For several years in New Jersey, NJEA has been leading the fight for Great Public Schools – a top organizational priority.
“One of the things we’ve noticed about E3 is that they don’t devote time or resources to improving public education,” said NJEA President Edie Fulton. “They exist primarily to criticize public schools, hoping to generate support for vouchers among concerned parents.
“NJEA, by contrast, is doing the hard work to support public schools across the state,” Fulton said. For example:
- For the past three years, NJEA has promoted family and parent involvement in urban districts through FAST – Families and Schools Together Work for Children. A joint effort with the Black Ministers’ Council of New Jersey, the NAACP Statewide Education Committee, ASPIRA, and the Statewide Parents Advocacy Network, FAST is now operating in 13 of New Jersey’s largest districts. With a focus on partnerships, family involvement programs, and community outreach, FAST is rapidly becoming a catalyst for positive change.
- NJEA is sponsoring the Academy Project at Lincoln Annex, a pilot model school in New Brunswick. NJEA, working with the New Brunswick Education Association and the school board, is providing students at the K-4 school with small classes; extensive family involvement and outreach programs; high-quality professional development for staff; shared decision-making; and after-school and summer enrichment programs.
- NJEA is providing both staff and resources for a number of safe school projects, including New Brunswick High School and the Bangs Avenue School in Asbury Park, working closely with teachers, staff, parents, and the community. NJEA is also working with members of the East Orange Education Association – with assistance from an NEA grant – to address safety concerns at the Patrick F. Healy Middle School. Community outreach – including involving the business community – is all being planned under PASS (People Advocating Safe Schools and Streets).
- NJEA continues to support full funding for the state’s Abbott districts – where E3 is doing its organizing – to ensure that the student achievement gains now beginning to emerge are sustained and supported.
‘A strategy for abandoning public education’
“In district after district, school after school, NJEA is doing the hard work of making public schools better, and involving families, neighborhoods, religious, civic, and business leaders in the fight for Great Public Schools,” said Fulton.
“It’s easy for E3 to stand on the sidelines, criticizing the well-documented problems of New Jersey’s urban schools,” Fulton noted. “They’re apparently not interested in rolling up their sleeves and doing the hard work of addressing them, because vouchers are a strategy for abandoning public education.
“NJEA will never back away from its commitment to Great Public Schools for every child in New Jersey,” Fulton said. “Public schools are the heart and soul of this country’s greatness, and they will always be the best opportunity for our children.”