From the "tarring all schools with the same brush" file. While working in a non-public school, a teacher claims s/he was instructed to ignore a student's special needs in the fear that acknowledging them might lead to the student's withdrawal and thus the loss of the tuition payment. His/her solution? Return to public-school teaching as such a thing would never happen there.
All schools depend on student numbers for their funding. In non-public schools, US charter public and UK academy, free or grant-maintained public schools, the connection is clear; in traditional US district and UK LEA schools, not as much. The event described in this piece from 2014 is probably true, especially for a small private school close to the edge where a single student can have a disproportionate effect on its survival. However claiming or intimating that it does not occur in a public setting is not.
When charter / academy schools in particular were established, nearby district / LEA schools saw a loss in enrollment, much more so than neighboring private schools. This loss of numbers lead to a reduction in school nurses, consolidation or bus routes, discontinuing of music programs and so on. Since district / LEA funding is typically tied to attendance rather than enrollment, staff began visiting student homes to find out why a student was not at school, collecting students from home and of course bribing them. Win a bicycle with perfect attendance, win a chance at a tablet with 95% attendance.
Students were recorded as present even if they left after first period. School leaders have been caught falsifying attendance records, some were fined and some were fired. Some of these cases may have been more diectly cnnected to league table performance, but the point is that such shenanigans are not limited to non-public education. They may even be more prevalent in the public sector.
One of the most egregious examples is the US 100-day phenomenon. Funding formulae are designed around average attendance for the first 100 days of school, there is even an industry around prizes and certificates! After the 100 days, ie with about 80 days of the school year still remaining, the focus on attendance is lost and in some cases schools no longer care since funding has been set. The sound of a collective sigh of relief can be heard across school districts as the pressure of ensuring attendance is lifted.
The example of a private school's false reporting to keep a parent happy is wrong and shows an ethical lapse symptomatic of other problems in the school. However the idea that a non-public school is purer in this respect is risible; indeed, non-public schools are probably more accountable to their parents and to their community!
**Remember to sign up for an email alert to new posts by completing the box to the right**
Further reading
No comments :
Post a Comment