I just read a post by Steve Hinnefeld reporting on recent polling about attitudes about schools. While attitudes about schools in the abstract are very negative, people like the schools where they send their own kids.
In the recent Gallup poll, 76% of parents said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the school attended by their oldest child. But, among all respondents, only 36% were satisfied with the nation’s schools, tying the all-time low. That’s a huge gap: 40 percentage points.
Gallup has been polling about education since 1999, and the divide between parents and others has been a consistent finding. Most parents have always given high marks to their own children’s schools, but they tend to be more skeptical of the nation’s schools. People with no direct experience with schools are the most likely to give America’s schools low grades.
I don’t know exactly what that says when real-world experience with a thing is largely positive while thinking about the same thing in the abstract ends up being significantly more negative. I suppose that means that a lot of fiction about schools is being thrown at people which persuades them until they actually find themselves dealing with the objective reality. For those Lord of the Rings fans out there, I have the image of Gríma Wormtongue whispering into the ear of Theoden; turning him into a bitter, decrepit old man who sits around inside all day. This, in turn, poisons the atmosphere of Rohan and saps its strength.
So, I don’t know, maybe turn off the cable news, get outside and go find a way to volunteer with your local school system.
i mean, isn’t this a similar logical fallacy to “local government good! big government bad!”?
there’s a huge deluge of people totally dissatisfied with the “laziness” and “apathy” of anybody under the age of 30 right now; and the people i hear complaining are often doing it after they finish discussing the high school sporting event that often gets prioritized over all other matters in their own kids’ lives. ¯\_(?)_/¯
The goal is to hit the enemy where they are vulnerable, or at least make up the vulnerability. For years, there has been anti-public schools prejudice. Remember when the Russians shot Sputnik? People blamed that on our public schools “being behind” when the data show that a month or so, we shot a rocket in space with a payload of sandbags and brought it down before orbit so we weren’t seen as trying to take over the world. When folks blamed the schools for the Russian space orbit, the President was stunned. Furthermore, as the writer reported, Gallup has done a survey every year for Phi Delta Kappa and found that the public gives local schools an “A” while schools that are further away gets progressively poorer grades. It’s a setup for our current situation, despite data that shows public better than voucher schools. Don’t show me the data, I already think I know what it is, and I’ve made up my mind.
Do you know why a number of people living near the High School have yard signs that say “Neighborhoods are for Neighbors” and “Save our West Lafayette Schools”. The two signs go together with the West Lafayette School logos on them. 10 houses at least have them.
I can’t gather the message of these signs? I don’t quite get the idea that the schools need saving but I guess so much is hyperbole these days. Are these just pro-referendum signs already coming out? It seems like not because of the weird “neighbors” signs that go along with it.
That’s new to me. Based on the timing, I guess it could be referendum stuff, but I tend to think not. The PAC advocating for the referendum just put up a website and I think some of their public facing activities are kicking into gear. “Save Our Schools” was the slogan for the first referendum in 2010. During the 2017 referendum, that was changed to “Sustain Our Schools.” I don’t know that they’re going to use signs at all this time out.
I know even less about the “Neighborhoods are for Neighbors” slogan. It makes me think it has to do with the recent tensions over Airbnbs and short term rentals in West Lafayette. But that’s a guess.
Thanks Doug! I always appreciate you responding to my comments. I think they are pro-referendum signs. And, I think the “Neighbor” signs are also having to do with the Airbnb issue too. They were just something that had me scratching my head. I like to know what is going on around here.