Should parents have the right to chose the school their child goes to?

[Cherrim]

When I moved to Toronto, my parents chose a house that was directly in the catch area of the local gifted school. Usually you can only get in in grade 3 when they test you and at the time, I was in grade 7. They knew I wouldn't be tested and wouldn't have any chance to get into the program unless I went directly to that school. Lo and behold, they specifically had me tested when they saw my grades and in grade 8, I was in the gifted program.

Had they not moved right into the catch area for my school (the street we live on is literally the farthest street we could live on and the end of my street is practically across from the school), I wouldn't have been able to go to that school and I'm pretty sure considering how miserable I was in the beginning, I'd be in a much, much worse state (mentally) than I am today.

On paper, the idea looks great. Let everyone choose where their kids can go. If they want to choose somewhere outside the walking/busing area, they're in charge of transportation. But the problem with that? Schools are built in an area when they're needed. They're built to service that area alone. Anything more and you start running into overcrowding issues. You get portables, you get too many students for the staff to handle. Or one school, since it has all the students, gets all the money and the other schools don't even have a chance to become respectable schools like the first one.

:/ So I kind of disagree with being able to choose which school you go to. I do like the idea of only having certain classes in certain schools (ie, gifted or IB programs) and then in order to go to those schools, you must be in those programs or else you'll be booted back to your catch school.

To play devil's advocate to your devil's advocate:

A sensible government would surely give more funding to the schools that need more funding - i.e. the worse performing schools - wouldn't they?

It was my understanding that usually, if a school is doing well, they get more money to service the areas that are doing well. (ie, if they have a really good concert band, the music program gets art grants and whatnot) If a school is mediocre or does poorly, they'll just get the typical amount of funding that everyone gets. :s

 

[Melody]

Here's my problem with the performance based funding, it's ass-backwards.

Say that there are 3 schools; A, B, and C.
School A scores in with 93%
School B scores in at 84%
School C scores in at 67%

Now, if you give school A and B better funding, they only get better, but if you pass up school C, they get worse, because the cost to operate only ever skyrockets. School C turns into a terrible school because they don't have the funding needed to break the status quo and try something new. How is that fair to the people who are locked in the Area assigned to School C? Essentially you're dooming an entire neighborhood block to a terrible lifestyle, because Education IS important. :/

If you boost up the funding of a failing school and impose enough regulation and motivation, they'll quickly improve. The bonuses for the well performing schools aren't necessarily a bad thing, but the worst performers need that boost up more badly than the overachievers do. :/

 

[Captain Fabio]

It doesn't take much to see that parents want to enrol their children into a school where they're most likely to get a good and sophisticated education. I know my parents did exactly that as I was growing up. My father would tell me time and time again...

"Christina, we wanted you to get into a good school because as our child, you deserved that much and more. Education will be a security belt for you in the future, so please make the most of this opportunity and do your best in the years ahead." That is what he said to me.

Because this was my parents' ambition, they were incredibly picky with the schools they listed as possible places for me to go. I would sit there and watch them a little dumbfounded and oblivious, even argued with them at some point that it shouldn't matter where I go as long as I do go to school, but...well, it was only during my later years did I realise just how important it is to get into a good school, especially because my friends and other people we all knew had experiences in more mediocre schools that have led to a decline in their intelligence and well-being.

Pretty much what Christina said.
They wanted me to be happy and have a good future, so if you parents care, they will send you to school.​

​

 

[zekes]

It depends upon the situation if the school that your parent plans you to go is good then why not grab the opportunity and go study there. I believe parents knows best for there child. :)

 

[Spinor]

Right now, I go to an open enrollment magnet school district. Meaning it serves 3 counties, it's free to enroll, and its public. That's how all schools should be. There should be choices, concentrations, and a wider area if they're one of a kind.

I can't exactly say much more on this, since I had the benefit of choice after 6th grade. I chose a better education, I had a choice of 4 high schools all unique in their ways, and I had a choice of going to the closer high school or the farther high school. I made the choice of going to the high school that takes a 30 minute bus ride through the highway. Every day, I endure that back and forth, but I endure it knowing that it's a lot easier to learn the things I like here. Technically, my parents only guided me, but in the end, it was me who made all the choices.

And I do partly feel bad, because I don't know how the 'normal' districts are supposed to work, and the only reference I have would be movies and TV shows set in high school, which I think are unreliable. Not to mention education code differences between states also make it harder for me to understand the overall nationwide norms with the Texas Education codes being so different in many ways, by what I observe.

Schools FORCING attendance based on area of residency? That's wrong. And I can say that from a sort of 'outsider' point of view. Instead of making high schools for strategic coverage of the city, make high schools for specialized curricula and concentrations. The one I go to is unique in having an engineering focused curriculum. And this kind of high school setup would make kids invest time and convenience for their interests. It's completely probable that right now the education system in the United States is staring corruption right in the face.

 

[Livewire]

Right now, I go to an open enrollment magnet school district. Meaning it serves 3 counties, it's free to enroll, and its public. That's how all schools should be. There should be choices, concentrations, and a wider area if they're one of a kind.

I can't exactly say much more on this, since I had the benefit of choice after 6th grade. I chose a better education, I had a choice of 4 high schools all unique in their ways, and I had a choice of going to the closer high school or the farther high school. I made the choice of going to the high school that takes a 30 minute bus ride through the highway. Every day, I endure that back and forth, but I endure it knowing that it's a lot easier to learn the things I like here. Technically, my parents only guided me, but in the end, it was me who made all the choices.

And I do partly feel bad, because I don't know how the 'normal' districts are supposed to work, and the only reference I have would be movies and TV shows set in high school, which I think are unreliable. Not to mention education code differences between states also make it harder for me to understand the overall nationwide norms with the Texas Education codes being so different in many ways, by what I observe.

Schools FORCING attendance based on area of residency? That's wrong. And I can say that from a sort of 'outsider' point of view. Instead of making high schools for strategic coverage of the city, make high schools for specialized curricula and concentrations. The one I go to is unique in having an engineering focused curriculum. And this kind of high school setup would make kids invest time and convenience for their interests. It's completely probable that right now the education system in the United States is staring corruption right in the face.

I wish it was like that in some aspects here as well. Here it's based on residency- I live in Lebanon, therefore I attended Lebanon Schools. Now thankfully I attended one of the best districts in the entire state of Ohio, so I was fine. But in other places, many are not as fortunate. :/

 

[Feign]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw

Vid very related. In Canada, the district thing is the same, though I am not sure how strict it is.

Essentially when people are given the freedom of choice (that the government's money follows the child) this enforces competition in schools and thus they try to attain the best teachers. Schools internationally do it.