My local grocery store offers 28 kinds of macaroni and cheese, 130 flavors of tea, 62 kinds of popcorn, 113 different air fresheners, and 42 types of eye drops.
We consumers hardly bat an eye at this array of choices; we walk into stores expecting to find the products that best cater to our individual needs, preferences, moods and pocket books.
And, thanks to a competitive market, we’re rarely disappointed.
That’s why it astounds me to know that most parents in our state who send their children to public schools have only one “type” from which to choose.
I’m even more astounded that so many parents seem to accept this as normal.
The 1,035,758 students enrolled in Washington’s K-12 public schools represent that many unique combinations of ability, ambition and aptitude.
Yet the form and substance of their educational experience is monotonously the same.
With few exceptions they will enter school when they’re 5 years old and exit when they’re 18.
They will be taught to the same standards, take the same tests, and follow the same schedule. (Today, the 20,000-30,000 elementary students in our state’s largest district — Seattle — were served a lunch of chicken nuggets and whole wheat bagel “munchables,” with sides of green peas, garden salad, baby carrots, chilled pears and crisp apples.)
How well does this “one-size-fits-all” system work for the children in our state?
Um, it doesn’t.
By 10th grade, more than one in five fail basic reading standards, 60 percent fall short in math, and more than half fail in science (based on 2010 state test results).
As consumers of everyday products, we know monopolies are bad news.
We take for granted our vast menu of options when it comes to hair dye and bologna and dog food.
Yet somehow, most people don’t question the claim that one brand of education is good for every child, even when proof to the contrary stares us in the face.
Imagine the possibilities if we allowed public education (which should be about educating the public, not protecting a particular type of school) to become as diverse as our hair products.
Marsha Michaelis is an education analyst with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.
