Jul 1, 2016 12:00:00 AM
by Laura Waters
It’s time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everyone’s role is spelled out in advance, and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. There’s no surprise that our school system doesn’t improve. It more resembles the communist economy than our market economy.StudentsFirstNY wants to disrupt the soporific bureaucracy by creating a new incentive for Mayor de Blasio to improve his innovation and productivity: “StudentsFirstNY will widely disseminate this list to parents. This kind of transparency is key to empowering parents to make good decisions.” Diploma mills that masquerade as authentic schools disenfranchise families and cheat students. But information, in this case, may truly be power.
Laura Waters is the founder and managing editor of New Jersey Education Report, formerly a senior writer/editor with brightbeam. Laura writes about New Jersey and New York education policy and politics. As the daughter of New York City educators and parent of a son with special needs, she writes frequently about the need to listen to families and ensure access to good public school options for all. She is based in New Jersey, where she and her husband have raised four children. She recently finished serving 12 years on her local school board in Lawrence, New Jersey, where she was president for nine of those years. Early in her career, she taught writing to low-income students of color at SUNY Binghamton through an Educational Opportunity Program.
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