Charter schools may be possible cure for education

College is full of uncertainty. But probably the most reliable thing during anyone’s time here is that if you make it to your senior year, you will be recruited by Teach For America (TFA).

The same recruiter has come to three of my classes now. A friend is being personally recruited, which has included a dinner at Flat Top, and a trip to Chicago to observe a current TFA volunteer in action in one of the schools.

Without a doubt, TFA is a noble pursuit, and an organization which has undoubtedly helped thousands of disadvantaged students. And it is a very competitive organization to join as well. Last year the organization rejected over 80 percent of its applicants.

But in the end TFA is like Tylenol to a cancer patient. It might mask the pain, but doesn’t do much to cure the disease. And even then, it’s only Tylenol, so it doesn’t even help the pain that much.

The recruiter ended with the same point both times, which is the crux of the problem. In America today the quality of education that someone receives depends on five numbers, their zip code.

A child is obligated to go to the public school in his or her district, even if it is a failing school. Inevitably, those failing schools are mostly in poor, urban districts, the very type that TFA is trying to help. There is no way for these kids to escape these schools either, as private schools are unaffordable and unreachable.

But the answer we hear repeatedly to help those schools is to spend more money: for the schools and teachers, for better teacher education programs, and for recruiting more teachers.

But that is just more Tylenol to a systemic problem. More money doesn’t necessarily lead to a better education. Chicago, contrary to what many might say, spends more per pupil than the national average, yet graduates under fifty percent of its students, far beneath the national average.

The problem isn’t with how much money is spent, but rather how it is spent, and how the school is run. That seems logical, but today most public schools are choked with bureaucracy and run by teachers’ unions who stifle innovation and reform.

For example, one of the reasons why TFA is so selective is because unions put limits on the percent of new hires that are TFA volunteers. The excuse given is that it protects educational quality, but an Urban Institute study released last year found that TFA corps members significantly outperformed teachers with three or more years of experience.

The problem is that the public education system today faces no competition, so it has no incentive to improve.

Enter charter schools. Charter schools, which are publicly funded, nonselective and privately run schools, are open to anyone, regardless of where they live. And the data is almost universally positive.

A RAND corporation study on charter schools in Chicago found that for charter eighth graders who went on to attend a charter high school, ACT scores increased, the probability of graduating went up by seven percent, and probability of enrolling in college by eleven percent.

Another study by a Stanford economist found that poor urban kids who attend a charter school starting in kindergarten and continuing through eighth grade close the learning gap in math and reading by 66 percent and 88 percent, respectively, with their more affluent white counterparts. And yet another study by the Manhattan Institute found that charter schools even help traditional public schools since they must respond to charter competition.

The benefits are enormous and conclusive, but unfortunately there is a cap on the amount of charter schools that can be built in Illinois, and in most other states, mostly due to teacher union influence. Perhaps the better way then to help the kids that TFA volunteers teach would be to start an organization called Charters for America, in which members would lobby their state congressman or senator for more charter schools.

However it’s done, it’s time for surgery on the public education system, not more painkillers.

Jordan is a senior in MCB.